Jagged Edges?
Answered
Hello there!
I was trying out the new features with the latest update and wanted to get acquainted with all the new additions. So I started following the latest video showcasing procedural texturing, as well as the new "Mask Stack" feature. However I encountered some weird artifacting.
I got to the point in the video where you add a Mask Component - Pattern - Add Square Pattern. It's at this point along the edges of the tiles there are these jagged lines/edges and I've tried to fix or do a work around to fix this issue but to no avail. So I'm not sure if its a hardware issue on my end or a small bug? I tried switching resolutions from 4k to 256.
In the lower settings I notice the edges go away but that could be due to the lower image quality the moment I crank up the resolution the artifacts reappear. I also noticed when I move the camera the artifacts/jagged edges go away and I checked the normal and you can see the jagged edges/lines and they look like they are baked into the normal, layer mask, etc.
-Top 2 images are at 4k and bottom 2 are at 512 resolution.
I greatly appreciate any help with this issue and for your time!
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Hi Aureius!
This actually isn't an artifact in the sense of there being a problem, this is actually how displacement works. To get around this we can use some clever workarounds that soften the transition from low to high which will reduce the amount of visible stepping in the displacement. You can add a bevel effect to your project in three different ways:
1) Via the Bevel option at the bottom of the tile pattern options.
2) Via a Bevel modifier in the Modifiers mask panel.
3) Via a blur in the Modifiers mask panel.
Try out one of these options and show us what it looks like afterward - I anticipate you'll see a large improvement that's closer to what you'd like to see.
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Hi Jonathan!
Thank you for the quick response! I did take your advice on the Blur & Bevel options and there was definitely a significant difference! However, I was still wondering how can I accomplish a very hard crisp edge? In the video tutorial with making the tiles, he never had to add a bevel or blur out the gate. He had no visible stepping when the square pattern was applied. Is there something I am missing?
Edit: I was able to achieve a pretty crisp edge with the Blur modifier. I wanted to ask though in the image below I still see some slight possible stepping? Do you think that would be significant enough to see on a model?
Thank you in advance once again!
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There's only so much you can do with displacement. It's largely dependent upon the amount of tessellation you have to work with and the resolution of your texture. In a displaced texture, the primary definition comes from the size of the texture. The smaller it is, the less detail there is to displace with and the blurrier it will be. Conversely, the opposite is true - larger textures create more detailed displacement and allow for a higher resolution of displaced detail. This is also contingent on the number of polygons in the mesh you're working with. Mixer displaces to a pretty large degree because it tessellates a plane for you, but ultimately it can only go so far in its current version. To see ultra tessellation you will likely need to adjust Mixer's settings. If you adjust the Tesselation factor to 10 under the Display menu, you should be able to get more preview definition out of the materials you're developing.
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Hi again Jonathan!
I appreciate the feedback and information! Is that maybe what is going on in the video tutorial, that ultra tessellation is turned on and why we don't see the stepping at all? Here is a comparison from the tutorial and what I see on my end. I followed step by step and have a much different look to my tiles compared to the video. The tiles in the video are so clean and crisp and when following step by step the bottom image is my result.
Again I really do appreciate your time and help! -
Did you increase the amount of tessellation in the Display menu? If it isn't set to 10 you will see stepping in your end-result. This is only a preview issue and not indicative of any trouble with the work you're creating. If you press 9 to see the layer mask for that tile layer, you should see a clean and clear set of color values.
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Hi!
I have the same problem.
When I press 9 to see the layer this is what I see:
I put two more images showing my program configuration, in addition to two different views:
As you can see i got tesselation on 10.If I upload the work resolution the problem wins definition. I have tried everything, even reinstalling the program, but it persists. There is no way to get defined edges as the tutorial shows following exactly the same steps. Maybe he should show his configuration can help.
Im on a EVGA GTX 1080Ti SC2 graphics card and AMD 1800X Octa core processor. Last Win10 update and same for the nvidia drivers. Working on 4k monitor. Maybe it helps to know.
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Try reducing the level of displacement you're using. What you're seeing is texture stretching because a plane is being distorted to a high degree. Planar mapped surfaces will always provide this effect when displacement pushes the surface too far past the surface of the plane.
In regards to your first image, that appears to be the normal map. Try pressing D to disable displacement and click on the dropdown menu in the top left of the viewport to change to Layer Mask to see what the actual texture looks like vs how it's displaced. -
Sorry, had just quit out of that original material and didnt save, attached are just the basic tile pattern, with and without bevel to smooth them off, even when you bevel the top edge its still very jagged at the bottom of the tile.
This is bevelled just to the amount that it gets rid of the jagged shapes down the side. (0.03) but still not an ideal texture for crisp tiles.
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What are your displacement settings at? Can you confirm that your GPU Tessellation is set to 10? Please keep in mind that if it isn't set to 10 you will see stepping in your viewport. This only affects the viewport preview in Mixer and should not cause any issues with the work you're creating. If you press 9 to see the layer mask for that tile layer, you should see a clean and clear set of color values which should demonstrate what I'm explaining.
By contrast, here's what your project should look like with a Bevel modifier and tesselation of 10:
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GPU Tessellation is found under the Display tab. It's strictly for in-app previewing. Renderer (online or offline) performance is affected only by the quality of map being fed to it - this is why you should always check your displacement map using the preview option in Mixer's viewport. The PBR dropdown at the top left under the Viewport tab can be used to isolate the Displacement channel to ensure that it looks correct prior to sending it over. Be aware that displacement can only simulate varying levels and is not a substitute for modeling.
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I see the same thing as Aurieus in his first post. My GPU tessellation was at 2, raised it to 10 and it just made the jagged edges sharper/finer. Interestingly enough, when I set it to one...i.e. LOWERED it, the problem went away. I now have sharper edges with no visible tessellation. Seems like it should have made the tessellation worse though...
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