Signed distance fields in Substance Designer (EXPERIMENT)

Experiment with bringing signed distance fields into Substance designer.

This one features full control over transformation of model, but has serious drawbacks:

- More difficult pipeline for getting baked maps - you will require Houdini for that;

- Higher resolution for maps needed. For example for 512 output image you need 16Kx8K map, which above currently supported limit for Substance Designer, while impostor rendering technique require just 8Kx4K map for 512 16x8 atlas used;

- Low output bit depth - it determined by dimensions of rendered SDF atlas, in case of 512 output image - it will be 9bit, which is useless for normal maps;

So I ended up using impostor rendering technique and leave this one as is. Of cource, it's possible to fix most of these issues, but it require significantly more free time, than I have.

Package contain:

- Actual node graph with all the math needed for it to function;

- Matrix math package - as one of dependencies;

- Houdini file with sample setup for making SDF maps;

- screw nut HP mesh and baked SDF for it.

Video: https://vimeo.com/257932961

Artist page: http://artstation.com/ikuzmichev