Theoretically, you could use a low-res smooth mesh that represents large
scale features and displace this with a hires mapping, generated from the
same landscape. This should superimpose small-scale details on the rough
mesh without huge displacement values. I haven't got convincing results
yet... YET.
Until today :)
http://www.xs4all.nl/~ath8n0r/div/landscapedisplacement.jpg
30x30 nurbs mesh displaced by 1024x1024 textures. Something was wrong at
the edges of the mesh but this makes the point. The mesh was generated from
the same landscape as the textures.
The mesh itself is taking care of the basic elevations and the displacement
adds detail and eliminates the 'blobbiness' of the mesh.
This clearly shows the importance of keeping the whole dataflow in floating
point, from landscape generation to conversions to rendering. That's been
the pioneering Realsoft philosophy ever since V4... 64-bit floating point
precision for everything.
The bmp displacement is 'terraced' because there are only 256 discrete
heights: the range is 0-255 integer. The hdr version is far superior! Of
course you have to watch the output range (high dynamics!).
-Mark H
