RKD - Sequence

C4D and LWV users find the “Sequence” panels under the shader's “Displacement Maps” panel.

In RealFlow, there are two ways of creating displacement maps. The first method is to activate a Hybrido fluid's “Displacement” feature. Here, a statistical spectrum mode of ocean waves is projected onto the fluid's surface and exported as a sequence of 16-bit TIF files. Inside RealFlow you have full control over the wave's look, size and speed. Adding displacement to a Hybrido surface is (at least in most cases) a post process and therefore you are free to control and change the properties of the waves according to your requirements without influencing the underlying core fluid.

The second way is to write displacement maps from RealWave simulations. With RealWave it is possible to combine, overlap and weigh different so-called modifiers. Even objects are able to interact with the surface: there they create ripples, bow or stern waves, and interference patterns. All these elements are written to the maps and exported as a series of files. In contrast to Hybrido, RealWave also provides the ability to write greyscale maps. With this map type, only the height information is stored.

Finally, it is no problem to add custom maps from other sources to the “RFRK_Displacement” shader. The files from these different sources can be combined easily here in the “Sequences” panel.

The “Sequences” panel is available for all 3D platforms, but it is part of a shader and therefore some RFRK versions lack a dedicated “RFRK_Displacement” node. In these cases you will find an appropriate object in the material manager or shader tree of the host application. Depending on your 3D application you can load up to 10 individual sequences. Each sequence has its own parameter set.

Map (3DS) | Texture (C4D) | File Name (HOU) |Path And Prefix (LWV)

All these names above are used for exactly the same function: to load a sequence of displacement maps. Simply browse to the folder where the maps are stored and import the sequence.

Add Sequence (3DS, MYA)

When you add a new "RFRK_Displacement" object, the RFRK opens a file browser. This button is only used when you want to add one or more additional files sequences to the same "RFRK_Displacement" container/shader.

Remove (3DS)

With this button it is possible to unload a file sequence.

Intensity

This field controls the final height of the wave surface and can be seen as a multiplier. Please keep in mind that very high values might produce unwanted distortion effects or an unnatural look. With very low settings, waves can also disappear and the surface will lack a sufficient amount of detail.

Mute

Especially when you have to work with multiple sequences, it is sometimes necessary to switch off one or more sequences, for example in order to evaluate an isolated fluid simulation or get a better overview. With “Mute” you can turn the appropriate sequences on and off and – this is important – they will also not be considered during the meshing/rendering process. The "RFRK_Displacement" tool for Softimage also provides a global "Mute" button to disable the entire range of currently loaded sequences at once.

Padding (C4D)

RealFlow simulation file names always contain a series of nulls – by default you can see five digits (e.g. Circle0100001). The number of nulls can be defined by the user and here you can adjust the "RFRK_Displacement" shader to your preferences.

Start Frame/End Frame (C4D, LWV)

Tell the "RFRK_Displacement" tool which part of a sequence you finally want to import.

Offset (C4D, LWV)

You can specify any positive or negative offset here that will be applied to the map sequence.

Edit Texture (LWV)

When you click on this button, a texture editor will be opened where you can modify the maps.

Color (Maya, Softimage)

In Maya and Softimage, these fields represent the displacement texture input slots. You create a texture node, assign the displacement maps and connect the node with a “Color” field in the “RFRK_Displacement” shader.

S Repeat/T Repeat (HOU)

Displacement maps from RealFlow are fully tileable and with this parameter it is possible to adjust the number of tiles individually for each direction of the horizontal plane.