Set up Displacement deformation

User Guide > Rigging > Maya Muscle > Skin Deformation >

Set up Displacement deformation

If you want to use the cMuscleDisplace node as a deformation feature, you can create a displace node and connect it to a Muscle deformed object.

After creating or connecting a cMuscleDisplace node, you may want to adjust its attributes to get the desired effect. See cMuscleDisplace node for descriptions of the attributes. Since Displacement nodes are distance-based (that is, they falloff or have more effect as they approach or move away from the surface) there are no weights to paint.

Related topics

Displacement deformation and rendering

To set up a displace node for deformation

Select Muscle > Displace > Create Muscle Displace from the main menu bar.
A new cMuscleDisplace node is created and selected. By default, this node is a planar-style displace node. This displace setup not only includes the group node and cMuscleDisplace locator shape, but also a file input for selecting the file texture. You can see this by graphing the selected displace node in the Hypershade or Hypergraph.
Select the file node going into the cMuscleDisplace shape and select an image file to use as the texture. Typically, you select the node, go to the Attribute Editor, and click the folder icon next to the Image Name field to browse for an image file to use.
NoteAdvanced users can also create any traditional Maya 2D texture and connect the shader’s outColor into the displace node dispData.shader attribute instead of using a file texture node.

The image should be black where you want no effect, and white where you want the displacement to push out or occur.
Change the attributes of your cMuscleDisplace node as needed and connect it to a Muscle deformer.
For example, you can change the cMuscleDisplace node from Planar mode to Cylindrical, or set other options.

To connect a cMuscleDisplace node

Select one or more cMuscleDisplace node objects, then select one or more Muscle deformed objects (objects with the Muscle skin deformer applied). (The order of selection does not matter.)
Select Muscle > Displace > Connect selected Muscle Displace nodes.
The nodes are now connected.
Select the Muscle deformed object and find the cMuscleSystem deformer node in the Channel Box or in the Attribute Editor.
Set the Enable Displace attribute to on.
You can now see the displacement effect. You may need to move, scale or change other settings on the cMuscleDisplace node to see the effect.

When you no longer want to use a displacement node, you can disconnect it from the cMuscleSystem deformer.

To disconnect a displace node

Select one or more cMuscleDisplace nodes and one or more Muscle deformed objects. (The order of selection does not matter.)
Select Muscle > Displace > Disconnect selected Muscle Displace nodes from the main menu bar.
The item is disconnected, and no longer affects the mesh.

Connect a NURBS Curve to a cMuscleDisplace node

When the cMuscleDisplace mode is set to Curves, the position and image map on the displace node no longer matter, and instead NURBS curves that are connected to the node are used to do the displacement. As the curves approach the surface, they move the points out.

NoteThis feature works for deformation-based displacement, and Maya shader displacement, but is not supported with the mental ray version of the shader.

In order to use this feature, you must connect NURBS curves into the cMuscleDisplace node. You can select one or more curves, but the radius/falloff of them will be the same and is set from the cMuscleDisplace node it is connected to. If you want to use different radius/falloffs, you must use multiple cMuscleDisplace nodes.

To connect a curve

Draw a NURBS curve or curves using standard Maya curve tools.
Create a cMuscleDisplace node as described in Set up Displacement deformation.
Select one or more curves and a cMuscleDisplace node.
Select Muscle > Displace > Connect NURBS Curve to Muscle Displace from the main menu bar.
The curves are now connected. The displacement node itself should be connected to the Muscle deformer, or as part of a shading network. See Create Maya cMuscleShader network.
Switch the cMuscleDisplace mode to Curves. The curves are now used to deform the surface.

To disconnect a curve from a cMuscleDisplace node:

Select the NURBS curve(s) and the cMuscleDisplace node.
Select Muscle > Displace > Disconnect NURBS Curve from Muscle Displace.
The curve is disconnected and no longer affects the deformation even if the node is in Curves mode.

Create Maya cMuscleShader network

The cMuscleDisplace feature can operate as a shader as well as a deformation tool. To do this, a special cMuscleShader node for Maya is created that does displacement and handles a connection from a cMuscleDisplace node. This shader is then connected to the material for your object. The cMuscleShader is a shader designed for the internal Maya renderer.

To set up a node for Maya-based cMuscleDisplace shading

Create a basic material and apply it to your mesh.
Select Muscle > Displace > Create Maya Muscle Shader Network from the main menu bar.
A new cMuscleShader and a new cMuscleDisplace node are created and selected.
Open the Hypershade and graph the selected objects.
Select the file node going into the shader and select an image file to use for the displacement. The image should be black where you want no effect, and white where you want it to displace the geometry.
Select the cMuscleDisplace shader node and your main Maya material and graph them in the Hypershade.
Drag the cMuscleShader onto the Shading Group for the material and select “other” from the menu that appears.
The Maya Connection Editor appears.
From the shader on the left, select Displacement and connect it to the Displacement Shader on the right side.
Close the Connection Editor.
Now you can see the connection from the shader into the shading group.
Use the Maya renderer to see the effect. You can use typical Maya adjustments to increase the displacement quality. For example, you can select the mesh and increase the number of Initial and Extra displacement samples in the Displacement Map section of the Attribute Editor for your mesh.

Create a mental ray mib_cMuscleShader network

The cMuscleDisplace feature can operate as a shader as well as a deformation tool. For mental ray rendering, a special mib_cMuscleShader node is created that does displacement and handles a connection from a cMuscleDisplace node. This shader is then connected to the material for your object.

To set up a node for mental ray-based cMuscleDisplace shading

Create a basic material and apply it to your mesh.
Select Muscle > Displace > Create Mental Ray mib_cMuscleShader Network from the main menu bar.
A new mib_cMuscleShader and a new cMuscleDisplace node are created and selected.
Open the Hypershade and graph the selected objects.
Select the mentalray_Texture node going into the shader and select an image file to use for the displacement with the Attribute Editor. The image should be black where you want no effect, and white where you want it to displace the geometry.
Select the cMuscleDisplace shader node and your main Maya material and graph them in the Hypershade.
Drag the cMuscleShader onto the Shading Group for the material and select “other” from the menu that appears.
The Maya Connection Editor appears.
From the shader on the left, select Displacement and connect it to the Displacement Shader on the right.
Close the Connection Editor.
Now you can see the connection from the shader into the shading group.
Render the scene with the mental ray renderer to see the effect. You may want to use typical Maya mental ray adjustments to make higher quality displacement.
For example, in the mental ray tab of the Render Globals dialog box, you can expand the Render Options and then the Overrides section. In that section, for Tessellation, you can click the texture icon to create a new mentalrayDisplaceApprox node for rendering this scene. In the Attribute Editor you can then set this to a Spatial approximation method, Fine approximation style, and increase the Max Subdivisions as desired.