Track Displacement
Track Displacement feeds a Layer track’s texture into the point cloud each frame. The red, green, and blue channels of the texture are decoded as X, Y, and Z position offsets respectively — so any ISF displacement shader or animated visual running on a Layer track can directly sculpt particle positions.
← Point Cloud Displacement overview
Enabling
Section titled “Enabling”Quick setup
Section titled “Quick setup”Open the Point Cloud Displacement card and click TRACK DISPLACEMENT to enable it. If no source track is assigned, a Create Displacement Track button appears. Clicking it:
- Creates a new Layer track named Displacement with the Spin Displacement shader pre-loaded
- Sets its fader to 0 (hidden from the mix) and enables Background Render
- Wires it as the source automatically
Manual setup
Section titled “Manual setup”- Add a Layer track and assign a 3D Displacement shader to it from the shader browser (emerald badge)
- Enable Background Render on that track so it renders without appearing in the mix
- On the 3D track, enable TRACK DISPLACEMENT and set Source to your Layer track
Parameters
Section titled “Parameters”| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| Source | The Layer track whose texture drives displacement |
| Strength | Displacement scale — how far particles are offset from rest |
| Decay | How quickly positions return to rest when the source texture is dark |
How it works
Section titled “How it works”A displacement shader is an ISF shader with the 3D Displacement kind (emerald badge in the browser). It outputs an RGB texture where each channel encodes a spatial offset — not a visual image:
- Red channel → X offset
- Green channel → Y offset
- Blue channel → Z offset
The texture is re-read every frame, so any animated shader running on the source track drives live particle motion.
Bundled displacement shaders
Section titled “Bundled displacement shaders”These shaders appear in the browser under the 3D Displacement category:
| Name | Effect |
|---|---|
| Spin Displacement | Rotating spiral field |
| Sphere Displacement | Maps particles to a sphere surface |
| Cube Displacement | Maps particles to a cube surface |
| Fold Displacement | Space-folding geometry |
| Pyramid Fold Displacement | Pyramid-based spatial folding |
| Vortex Field Displacement | Swirling vortex flow |
| Orbit Displacement | Orbital rotation paths |
| Tunnel Perspective Displacement | Perspective tunnel effect |
| Tunnel Wall Displacement | Tunnel wall geometry |
| Geo Feedback Drift | Geometry feedback with drift |
| Geo Feedback Rotate | Geometry feedback with rotation |
| Geo Feedback Depth Warp | Geometry feedback with depth warping |
Creating custom displacement shaders
Section titled “Creating custom displacement shaders”Displacement shaders are written in GLSL using the ISF format. In the shader browser or Studio, set the Kind to 3D Displacement (emerald badge). Output an RGB texture where each channel encodes a spatial offset. Use Studio (the built-in shader editor) to write and preview them live.