Top View Render for depth maps / height Maps

[robin.klein]

Hi there,

I don`t find the answer in the Forum. So here is my question:
How can I render a top view of, for example, a mountain in order to get a high quality greyscale depth map / height map?

I want to create 4k-8k highly detailed maps in order to use them later in octane for displacement.

What is the best workflow for that?

I attached a file. I wanttocreate something similar out of Cinema 4d for octane.

Greets

[bepeg4d]

You can use the Z-depth pass, have a look at this old experiment made 10 years ago:
removed wrong link, please continue here: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=76446&p=393450#p393450

Anyway, did you see World Creator?
https://www.world-creator.com/features/

It is available here:
https://render.otoy.com/account/downloa ... LL&ver=ALL

ciao Beppe

[pegot]

You can use the Z-depth pass, have a look at this old experiment made 10 years ago:
viewtopic.php?f=78&t=39376&p=183626&hil ... nt#p183626

Anyway, did you see World Creator?
https://www.world-creator.com/features/

Hey bepeg4d, the first reference link you provided isn't working for me. For some reason it says "you are not authorized to use this forum," even though I am fully logged in.

Could you provide the steps necessary to create the height map in Octane? I am also wanting to achieve this.

I have been exploring World Creator and while amazing, I see no way to import ones own terrain mesh to generate a height map or use it as a base to start with.

[bepeg4d]

Oops, sorry, internal link

Please look at this example of a displacement map obtained with World Creator, and rendered in c4doctane:

Beauty from World Creator

Than the Z depth pass of the same render:

Z depth pass

Then the same pass corrected in PhotoShop, by applying a 3D Bump/High filter to invert the Z depth pass, and a an Exposure offset, Gamma correction:

Photoshop color correction

And finally used as displacement map in c4doctane:

final Z depth displacement result

A lot of details are lost, but it is possible to use it in world Creator to bring back the details.

ciao Beppe

[pegot]

World Creator isn’t an option if you want to create heightmaps from your own geometry (either landscapes or from a hard modeled object). At least I can’t see any option in World Creator to import one’s own mesh.

I was interested in generating heightmaps from objects directly in Octane.

However, Blender offers a very excellent and easy way to do this. . See below URL’s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arvhK4tvYuY&app=desktop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekogw2Zm20Y&app=desktop
https://blender.stackexchange.com/quest ... -from-mesh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F77qiuJ ... e=youtu.be

The exported heightmaps work perfectly in Octane. But Is there any equivalent way in Octane to do what these Blender techniques can? Just wondering.

[bepeg4d]

You can do something similar by using the Falloff node in 90° mode, but I prefer to use a top Orthographic Camera, in Z pass mode, the use the 3D/Bump-High filter in Photoshop, to have a rough Highmap to be used in World Creator:

c4d viewport

Top Z-Depth pass

after Photoshop filter

higmap imported in World Creator

to add some filters

ciao Beppe

[itsallgoode9]

You can do something similar by using the Falloff node in 90° mode, but I prefer to use a top Orthographic Camera, in Z pass mode, the use the 3D/Bump-High filter in Photoshop, to have a rough Highmap to be used in World Creator:

ciao Beppe

Is there some weird reason why, in octane, you can't just set a min/max distance for z-depth, so you get a full range of black to white in the render? Seems pretty standard to be able to do that?