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RGBA to Texture?

PostPosted: Fri Nov 09, 2018 1:31 pm
by wintomee
Is there a way to convert RGBA or other output to a texture node that can use UVs?
Alternatively, is there any simple way how to offset or rotate such RGBA outputs if I can't use the Texture Sample's UVs for these actions?

Re: RGBA to Texture?

PostPosted: Fri Nov 09, 2018 3:34 pm
by Amplify_Borba
Hey there, unfortunately I don't think that it's possible to accomplish either, at least not within the scope of our editor, and due to the fact that Sampling a texture requires UV's.

Could you elaborate on what sort of effect you intend to achieve?
We might be able to provide further information or to offer a possible workaround, depending on what you're planning on creating!

Re: RGBA to Texture?

PostPosted: Fri Nov 09, 2018 3:52 pm
by wintomee
I can provide UVs (as far as I understand them) for the RGBA images if that would help...

At the moment, I'm layering multiple noise textures with different panning/ rotations / tiling etc to create a fog effect.
I wanted to create a normal map from the resulting fog as if it was a height map - problem is, I cannot do operations like offset with anything that isn't a texture - or can I?

Also, some time ago I wanted to rotate another type of output, but once again, from what I know I need Texture Sample UVs to use Rotation. Back then, I tried the matrix multiplication mentioned in https://thebookofshaders.com/08/ but ultimately failed.

Re: RGBA to Texture?

PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2018 9:41 am
by Amplify_Borba
We do provide a node that allows you to create a normal from a heightmap, which is in fact an editable shader function:

Image

This means that you can double-click it to open the function in our editor and examine the operations it does.

Is this along the lines of what you're looking for?

Re: RGBA to Texture?

PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2018 2:03 pm
by wintomee
It does not solve my problem, since what I have is an RGBA output and not a texture. (Here comes the problem from the topic title)

I mean, It's nice you I don't have to create the process of converting height to normal map myself, but I need to offset things to do that, which I can't do without a texture input.

Re: RGBA to Texture?

PostPosted: Mon Nov 12, 2018 3:25 pm
by Amplify_Borba
Apologies for having trouble to understand the effect you're going for, however, as I said in my first reply, I don't think that it's possible manipulate the data you're handling without using at least one sampler and its UV coordinates, at least not within the scope of ASE.

Re: RGBA to Texture?

PostPosted: Wed Nov 14, 2018 4:54 pm
by wintomee
It would seem UE4 has this functionality, named PreparePerturbNormalHQ which is exactly what I need.
Is there nothing similar, or possible, with ASE?
https://answers.unrealengine.com/questi ... sible.html
https://twitter.com/klemen_lozar/status ... 5902910464

Re: RGBA to Texture?

PostPosted: Thu Nov 15, 2018 10:20 am
by Amplify_Borba
We do have a PerturbNormal function but it's not quite like UE's, ours perturbs the normal without the need of the model's precalculated tangents.

In any case, we're going to look into the nodes you've shared and see if it's possible to replicate them in ASE, and will get back in touch as soon as we have any developments.

Re: RGBA to Texture?

PostPosted: Tue Nov 20, 2018 3:47 pm
by wintomee
Understood.
Thanks for any effort you put into this, I really appreciate it.

Re: RGBA to Texture?

PostPosted: Wed Nov 21, 2018 3:41 pm
by Amplify_Borba
No problem, it's our pleasure!

We've just released a new build, which you can download through our website, that includes the requested functions.

Please let us know if you come across any issues, thanks!