WIP


Topo Vertex maps 2, is now a deformer.


it generates vertex maps for everything in a deformer hierarchy, regardless of if the geometry is polygonized or virtual. It is very easy to use, very fast, and offers an interesting way to generate some interesting vertex maps, on one or more objects, quickly and efficiently.


i.e. Maxons asset library contains a headphone object. Lets try that as an example.

you simply insert a topo vertex map object into the hierarchy. 

That asset contains over 100 objects. Topo Vertex maps makes a vertex map for all of them, in one hit, in realtime.


i.e.

Curvature..

Ambiance

Density


A vertex map tag is generated on the Topo Vertex map deformer.

That vertex map tag is named as per the map type. You can override that map name.


if you want to link to a shader to the generated maps for all objects, just drag drop that one tag into the shader or node. and it will stay linked, by name.


i.e. Link to a vertex map shader.

you can then see the topo vertex maps live in the viewport, by turning off the visibility of the raw vertex map in the plugin settings (i.e. turn off the classic red/yellow display, to see how it looks in a shader, in the viewport)


This is a topo vertex map shader, in a material, dropped on the parent. This can be viewed in realtime on hundreds or even thousands of objects. 

You can access the vertex maps in RS and octane, by using vertex attribute nodes, set to the name of the tag. This is where the name override comes in very useful as you can set the name of the tag yourself, so that when you change map type, the linkage does not break.

You can also use the restriction tag on other deformers, to limit them with a topo vertex map.




Usage


As a deformer, you can insert the topo vertex maps modifier, into any hierarchy. it creates a map for every polygon object it finds..

The maps can be access via Redshift or Octane, by make an attributes node. (in Octane, you set the node to float)

You then set the name of the generated vertex map tag in the node to whatever the mode is. i.e. curvature.  You can override this name in the name override field (at the bottom). Best is to use something simple, but unique as the name.


Map Types

  • Curvature - The classic map, just easier to do, and I think more useful.
  • Ambiance -  Low cost , Very fast local ambiance.
  • Density -  Surface Density. Maps the Range of polygon areas.
  • Nbrs - Neighboring Density. Maps the Range of the number of polygons connected to a point. 
  • Tension -  The difference between the deformed Density and undeformed Density.
  • Delta -  The distance difference between deformed and undeformed points
  • Pitch -  Angle map relative to up vector.
  • zero - blank canvas, for working purly with fields.


further proposals for the future include: uvw density. Shadow. Volume depth,etc. Divergence. Vertex speed,etc.


Name Override

You can override this default name in the vertex map tag generated. Otherwise the tag name is the same as the mode name. Best is to use something simple, but unique as the name, so that your shaders easily reference the tag. This is much better than object linkage.


Invert

Inverts the generated output.


Bias

Adjust the strength of the output to be bias up or down. At 0% the output is not remapped at all.


Quantize

Quantize resulting ranges.


Transfer

The vertex maps produced by top vertex maps are virtual. You can not directly link to them. You can however always reference them by name, which allows anything that looks for a vertex tag by name to find them on an object, be it real or virtual. However, if you want to transfer the virtual map to a polygonised object, you can do so by simply hitting the transfer button. This will add a vertex map with the current state, to all polygonized objects in the deformers hierarchy. 



Beta Notes:

  • Available in beta with DEM Earth. As long as you have active support, and a floating license.
  • When linking via xpress, it is important to set the xpresso priority to generators.