Displacement Exporter
From ZBrush Info
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Displacement Exporter(DE) contains many innovative features such as the ability to convert a displacement map into a normal map. From this plug-in you can export 8 bit, 16 bit, or 32 bit RGB or grey-scale maps. You have full control over each channel, can flip your map as well as have access to the innovative 8dot8 file export.
8dot8 allows you to use 8 bit displacement maps to achieve results similar to what you achieve with 16 bit displacement maps. 8dot8 separates out major and minor forms into two different maps that can be added together at render time. To use 8dot8 turn the status of Major8 and Minor8 to On.
The Multi Displacement 3 will bake real-world coordinates (and remove the need for the Alpha Depth Factor) into your 32 bit floating point maps for models that were imported into ZBrush. Multi Displacement 3 has been production tested by ILM and other major studios.
Alphas, Displacements, and Normal Maps
An alpha (or alpha map, or alpha image, depending on your preference) is a grayscale image wherein different levels of bright or dark at a point are interpreted as intensity values to be applied to something else. For example, one of the earliest uses of alphas in graphics was to define how transparent an image was at its different points; accompanying the image was an alpha of the same size as the image, and the intensity of the alpha at a point determined how transparent the image would be at that point.
A common use for alphas in 3D graphics is as displacement maps. In this use, an alpha is applied to a 3D surface, and points on that surface can be raised or lowered depending on the value of the alpha intensity at that point.
Rather than applying a displacement map to an object, it may be possible to use a normal map, which can give the appearance of displacements, and offers certain advantages if actual changes in geometry are not needed. A normal map can be calculated from a displacement map, which is to say, from an alpha. Detailed descriptions of how normal maps work are available in graphics books or in many places on the web.
To Learn About Quick Steps for Using Displacement Exporter Click Here.
To Learn About The Purpose of The Displacement Exporter Click Here.
To Learn About The DE Interface Click Here.
To Learn About Exporting Normal Maps Click Here.
