Hi all! I wondering what is the correct method to mix various bump or displacement shaders in Arnold? Which could be the equivalent to mix two bump shaders in additive mode? I'm thinking in this three methods but I don't know what is the correct way to do it:
1-Combine the rgb information before the bump 2D node, maybe with a layer node. (this information always need to be float before the bump node? Or the bump 2d read this in float automatically?).
2-Connect one bump 2D node to the normal input of the next bump 2D node? Just like this example to mix bump and normal: link.
3-Use a mix shader with additive mode activated to combine two bump nodes?
I know that this method is not the way because I can't connect the mix shader in to the standard surface geometry input but I thinked in this option because I know that Redshift have a different workflow for this. They have a specific bump and displacement blender where you can mix different bumps in blend or additive mode (example 1, example 2)
And which could be the correct method to mix displacements too?
Cheers!
Maybe try new "normal_map" blending mode in the layer_rgba shader. It was added in Arnold 5.2.1.0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycBBTJTjioE
Watch this video it explains what you're looking for.
QUESTION: Can the layer function use Vertex maps instead? Or does it have to be an alpha?