What's 2.5D displacement?

[Xntric]

I've been  trying to find an answer but i can't. Anyone know what it is?

[TomG]

Faster, and needs less memory - that's all I need to know :) I have no idea what the technical magic is behind it, never been concerned enough to ask, only interested in what it does for me and the results :)

[Xntric]

Faster, and needs less memory - that's all I need to know :) I have no idea what the technical magic is behind it, never been concerned enough to ask, only interested in what it does for me and the results :)

Nice, but is it at the cost of worse quality or will the quality of displacement be the same?

[rowmanns]

Hi,

So far in our tests the quality has been comparable. Take a look at the 2.5d displacement playground for some more user tests https://forum.corona-renderer.com/index.php?topic=26398.0

Or download the latest Corona v5 RC1 and have a play with it :)

Thanks,

Rowan

[TomG]

Yep, the quality of the displacement (the number of primitives making up the displaced geometry) is better, which means you (usually) don't need the Autobump adding a bump map to simulate the detail, but instead have actual detail in the displacement.... all while rendering faster, and needing less memory. There will be some stats and comparisons in the release blog and new features video of course, but that's the overall summary of our experiences so far.

[Xntric]

Thanks, that sounds pretty nice :)

[romullus]

I've been  trying to find an answer but i can't. Anyone know what it is?

I've been asking that question for years - seems like nobody really knows, or doesn't care to explain :]

Nice, but is it at the cost of worse quality or will the quality of displacement be the same?

My tests almost consistently shows, that new displacement has tiny bit less quality, but unless you do direct comparison with classic displacement, it's really hard to spot. I'd say that speed and especially RAM savings are totally worth it.

[slowgojoe]

why is it called 2.5d??

At first i thought it might have a 3rd dimension to the displacement somehow, like you could get convex shapes under your geometry or something by combining multiple displacement maps. That's what the name would imply anyway.

[TomG]

The name doesn't have any great significance - "old" displacement was 3D, V-Ray has something called 2D displacement, our approach is something of a hybrid for the best of both worlds, so, 2.5D. That's it really, nothing dramatic or exciting about it, maybe we should just have called it "Better Displacement" or "New Displacement" or "Displacement Ultra" or some such :)

[romullus]

If old displacement is considered 3D, then how many Ds vector displacement has? o_O

[superpeo]

Hi there,
here
https://www.stateofartacademy.com/en/corona-renderer-525d-displacement/
you can find some tests we made in SOA Academy with the 2.5D displacement.
Huge huge improvements.
Congrats to the whole Corona Team for this!

Gianpiero "Peo Monopoli
Corona Primary Certified Instructor
Co-Founder at SOA Academy

[cjwidd]

is there an option to toggle 2.5 displacement on / off? If so, where is the option located in the render settings dialogue?

In the performance tab #sry

[Fluss]

If old displacement is considered 3D, then how many Ds vector displacement has? o_O

I liked it