Difference between revisions of "Flow map"

Revision as of 06:58, 4 October 2017

A flow map stores directional information in a texture, also called a vector field. This can be used to control the UV coordinates for a water texture, to make the texture flow around rocks. It can also be used to control the direction of a hairstyle's anisotropic specular highlight.

Images by Graphics Runner

UDK - Water with Flow Map video by Hywel Thomas

Flow map tools and discussions

• Substance Painter: Flow map painting
• Flow Map Painting in Substance Painter, Polycount Forum thread.
• FlowMap Painter tool
• Graphics Runner: Animating Water Using Flow Maps
• How to paint flow/anisotropic/comb maps in Photoshop Polycount forum thread
• Creating a "comb map" Paint Shop Pro tutorial by Ben Mathis, Polycount forum thread
• Flow Map Painting Script Polycount forum thread
• Creating and using Flow Maps UDK tutorial by Phill Johnson
• How Do You Make a Flow Map? Polycount forum thread
• UDK - Maelstrom/Whirlpool - Creation Process? Polycount forum thread

Flow map whitepapers

• Water Technology of Uncharted Naughty Dog whitepaper from GDC 2012
• Graphics Runner: Animating Water Using Flow Maps by Kyle Hayward
• Water Flow in Portal 2 (PDF) Valve Software whitepaper from SIGGRAPH 2010

Related Pages

• Curvature map
• DuDv map
• Normal map
• Radiosity normal map
• Vector displacement map