This component retrieves edge information from the Mix to accentuate or modify into a mask. This can be used to mask edges to show erosion.

We will cover Curvature in 3 sections:

  1. Types of Curvature
  2. Targeted Layers
  3. Other Controls

1. Types of Curvature

  • Default Curvature: Outputs bright edges and dark cavities.
  • Edges Only: Outputs bright edges.
  • Cavities Only: Outputs bright cavities.
  • Edges & Cavities: Outputs bright edges and bright cavities.

2. Targeted Layer

  • Underlying Mix: Calculate curvature from the Underlying Mix
  • Base Normals: Calculate curvature from the normals of the base layer.
  • Current Layer: Calculate curvature from the current layer
  • Mesh Only: Calculate curvature from the mesh.
  • Base Curvature Map: Calculate curvature from the base layer. This option is only enabled when there is a map loaded in the Curvature base map.

3. Curvature Controls

  • Tightness: Control the number of edges that are sampled.
  • Levels: Set a range of edge information to modify.
  • Anti-aliasing: Minimizing the distortion artifacts when representing a high-resolution image at a lower resolution
  • Soft Mesh: Attempt to reduce hard triangulation edges in the mesh curvature.
  • Invert: Inverts the map. This can be used to retrieve information from the crevices instead of the edges.

To get a more in-depth understanding of the Curvature component, take a look at the following video.