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Table of Contents

This page offers information about V-Ray Enmesh in Maya. 


Overview


The V- Ray Enmesh geometry generates a render time patterned geometry over a mesh surface. The node can be used to create crochet fabric, chain mail, nets, and anything that requires inflex geometry tiling.

Multiple objects can be included in the node's Reference Objects list to form a complex pattern sample and tile together over the mesh surface.

The Enmesh gizmo encloses the sample to be tiled. You can adjust it to fit all the reference geometry or crop it conveniently by modifying the size and position of the gizmo. Therefore, the gizmo is also referred to as Crop Box.

V-Ray Еnmesh is currently available only for CPU rendering.


UI Path: V-Ray Menu > V-Ray Enmesh


V-Ray menu > V-Ray Enmesh


||V-Ray Shelf|| > Create V-Ray Enmesh button

Workflow




The fastest way to create a V-Ray Enmesh node, is to first select the Reference geometry, then Ctrl-select the Source geometry and click on the icon in the V-Ray Shelf. This way the source and reference are entered automatically.











 



Basic Parameters



Reference Objects – Shows the set containing the objects used as reference meshes. This is the object or objects that will be scattered on top of the Source.

Source Mesh – Shows the set containing the mesh used as a source. This is the base. Other geometries will be scattered on this object.

 Make sure to freeze transformations of the Source Mesh to get the correctly scaled result. You can do so by going to Modify > Freeze Transformations.

Force Invisible Source – When enabled, the Source Mesh is hidden at render time, no matter if its own visibility is enabled or not.

Crop Box X/Y/Z – Sets the gizmo size along the X/Y/Z axis.

Height % – Sets the VRayEnmesh height based on the Crop Box Size Y value. 100% means it uses original crop box height.

Height Offset % – Sets the VRayEnmesh geometry offset along the surface normals based on the Crop Box Y size.

Fit in Object Space – Clicking on this option positions the Enmesh gizmo in the viewport exactly around the reference object.

Use Mesh UVW Mapping – Uses the source mesh UVW for shading instead of the Surface UVW. This option is disabled by default.

Use Proxy Mesh IDs – Uses Proxy Mesh IDs for shading the patterned surface if a VRayMultiSubTex or MultiSubObject are used.


Tiling Options



Tiling U/V – Sets a pattern tiling in UVW space. Use these parameters according to your UVs size.

Offset U/V – Sets a pattern offset in UVW space.

Random Offset U/V – Uses the static UVW offset as base and adds it when calculating the randomization effect.

Rotation – Sets a pattern rotation in UVW space.

Use Random Rotation Steps – Makes Random Rotation parameter be based on 360/X, where X is steps count. For example, if Random Rotation is set to 4, the pattern mesh is randomly rotated on a 90 degrees step (360/4) with a 30 degrees offset - 30, 120, 210, 300, 390 (30).

Map Channel – Uses the set map channel for the surface geometry.


See the Tiling example for more information.





Example: Tiling


The following example shows how Enmesh is used on a simple plane to coat it with a pattern of torus objects. The pattern is controlled via the Tiling parameters and the tori are included in the Reference Objects list.

The Crop box X, Y and Z are set at the following values respectively: 3.15, 1.125, 4.4.



The V-Ray Enmesh gizmo box is set in such a way that its edges are in the center of the tori's periphery. Thus, the tori tile seamlessly.




The tiling pattern changes considerably when Tiling values change:


Tiling U and V = 8

Tiling U and V = 12

Tiling U and V = 16


Notes



  • V-Ray Enmesh is incompatible with render-time created geometry like displacement and V-Ray Fur.

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