Easy Parallax Addon Documentation

The Easy Parallax addon for Blender allows you to convert existing materials into Parallax Occlusion Mapping shaders, enabling real-time displacement effects with minimal geometry. This lightweight, performance-oriented solution is perfect for adding depth and realism to your textures.

1. Interface Overview

Panel Layout

Input Textures:

• Normal Map: Load your material's normal map.
• Albedo Map: Load your material's color/albedo map.
• Displacement Map: Load the displacement map for depth.
• Roughness Map: Load the roughness map for surface detail.

Add Parallax Occlusion Mapping:

• A button to automatically set up the Parallax Occlusion Mapping shader for the selected material.

Settings:

• Parallax Strength: Adjust the strength of the displacement effect. Default is 0.5.
• Extension Type:
  • Repeat: Extends the texture by repeating it.
  • Clip: Crops the texture edges.

Select Displacement Map Manually:

• Scan Texture Maps: Automatically detects and lists available displacement maps in your material.
• Apply Height Map: Allows you to manually select and apply a height map.

2. How to Use

Prepare Your Material:

• Ensure your material has the necessary texture maps: Normal, Albedo, Displacement, and Roughness.

Add Parallax Occlusion Mapping:

• In the Easy Parallax panel, load the respective textures in the input slots.
• Click the Add Parallax Occlusion Mapping button.

Adjust Parallax Settings:

• Use the Parallax Strength slider to control the intensity of the displacement effect.
• Choose an Extension Type for how textures handle boundaries.

Optional: Manual Displacement Map Selection:

• Click Scan Texture Maps to detect all available displacement maps.
• Use the dropdown to manually select a height map and click Apply Height Map.

3. Tips for Best Results

• Use high-resolution texture maps for better quality.
• Adjust the Parallax Strength based on the scale of your object to avoid over-displacement.
• Combine with Blender’s lighting to enhance the depth effect.

4. Performance Benefits

Unlike traditional displacement, this method requires only one face, making it extremely fast and resource-efficient. Ideal for real-time applications like game engines or viewport rendering.

5. Troubleshooting

• Textures Not Displaying Properly:
  • Check if the correct maps are loaded in their respective slots.
• Displacement Too Intense or Weak:
  • Adjust the Parallax Strength slider.
• Shader Looks Flat:
  • Ensure the Displacement Map is loaded and applied correctly.