Coming soon. Displace is not in the beta library you have. It arrives with the next library update, together with a few small fixes listed at the bottom of this page. Nothing here needs your current files to change.
Displace moves the points of a mesh by a pattern. Use it for landscapes, rough surfaces and anything you want to sculpt from noise or an image.
Quick start #
- Use a mesh with enough points. A plain plane has four. Subdivide it first.
- Add Displace to the mesh. It is a Constructor.
- Raise Distance. The surface moves along Axis (Z by default).
- Pick a Source. The default is Ordimus Noise. Change Scale and Noise Type to taste.
Inputs #
| Input | What it does |
|---|---|
| Falloff Mode | None or Falloff. None is the default: full effect on every point |
| Falloff | The name picker. Only used when Falloff Mode is Falloff |
| Strength | 0-1. Scales the whole effect. Keyframe it to grow a landscape |
| Distance | How far the surface moves at full effect, in meters, whatever the object’s scale. This is the largest move in either direction |
| Range | Both Ways: down where the pattern is below Midlevel, up where it is above. Positive Only: the surface only goes up |
| Midlevel | The pattern value that stays put in Both Ways. 0.5 splits the pattern evenly |
| Axis | X, Y or Z (the object’s own axes), or Normal (along each point’s surface normal) |
The Shader, Procedural, Time and Ordimus Noise panels are the same as in the Shader constructor. Source can be an Image, so a height map works too.
Layering #
- Add several Displace modifiers to one mesh. They add up, and the order in the stack does not change the pattern.
- Give each layer its own Scale, Distance and Noise Type. A large, slow layer plus a small, fine one is a quick way to build a landscape.
- A layer with Falloff Mode set to None is a general, overall layer.
Animate it #
- Open the Time panel. Speed is 0 by default, which is still. Raise it and the pattern moves on its own. A negative Speed runs it backward.
- Loop Period makes the motion repeat exactly after that many seconds.
- Speed moves the Wave, Blender Noise and Voronoi sources. The Ordimus Noise types (Ridged, Grooved, Blocky, Marble, Billow, Veins) and Gradient do not animate with Speed yet. To move them, keyframe Offset in the Shader panel. It scrolls the pattern.
- A quick flag: Source Wave, Speed above 0, and a Linear Falloff that holds one edge still.
Falloff #
To shape where a layer acts, put a Falloff above the Displace.
- Set the Falloff’s Target to Mesh Points (or Both).
- On the Displace, set Falloff Mode to Falloff.
- Pick the Falloff’s name in the Falloff picker.
Use a different Falloff Name for each layer you want to control separately.
Use the pattern in a material #
Displace can save its 0-1 pattern value on every point.
- Under Output, turn on Write Vertex Group and set a Group Name. Use a different name on each layer.
- In your material, add an Attribute node. Set it to Geometry and type the same name.
- Plug its Color or Fac into a Color Ramp, a Mix or any input. High points are near 1 and low points are near 0.
This works in Cycles and EEVEE, and still works with a Subdivision modifier after Displace.
If you see X, do Y
Nothing moves. Check that the mesh has enough points, that Distance and Strength are above 0, and that Falloff Mode is None, or that your Falloff is set up as above.
Marble or Billow does nothing. Set Cycles (Ordimus Noise panel) to 1. At 0 these two types go flat. See the next section.
Speed does nothing. Speed only moves Wave, Blender Noise and Voronoi. For the Ordimus Noise types, keyframe Offset instead.
A warning says the falloff is 0 on every point. The Falloff must sit above the Displace, its Target must include Mesh Points, and its name must be the one picked in the Falloff picker.
What else changes in the same update #
These changes ride along with Displace. They affect the library you have now.
| Change | What you will notice |
|---|---|
| Cycles now defaults to 1 in the Shader constructor | Marble and Billow work as soon as you pick them |
| Falloff Target now defaults to Both | A new Falloff works on pieces and on a plain mesh without changing Target. The “No pieces” and “No mesh” warnings only appear when neither is present |
| Four more Falloff shape presets: Noise, Object, Spline and Vertex Map | They sit with Linear, Sphere, Box, Cylinder and Radial in the Ordimus menus, and the whole set is also under Ordimus Presets in the Add Modifier menu |
| Speed can go negative in Displace and the Shader constructor | A negative Speed runs Wave, Blender Noise and Voronoi backward |
| Displace leaves a Falloff’s Show Falloff wire alone | The viewport wire no longer gets displaced with the mesh |
If you already have a rig: modifiers you added earlier keep the values they were created with. Update Toolkit Groups swaps the groups and keeps your settings, so an older Shader keeps Cycles 0 and an older Falloff keeps Target Pieces. Until you update, set Cycles to 1 on any Shader using Marble or Billow, and Target to Both on a Falloff that should write onto a mesh.