🧱 Virtual Layer Displacement 2.2

Seamlessly blend two PBR materials using their displacement maps.
Create physically accurate, multi-layered materials with just one click in Blender’s Shader Editor.

🌟 Key Features

✅ Automatic Material Detection – Finds and connects BSDF + displacement nodes automatically
✅ Height-Based Blending – Mix materials according to true displacement depth
✅ Scan50 Ready – 100% compatible with Scan50 material packages
✅ Smart Connection – Keeps Scale & Midlevel values from your existing setup
✅ One-Click Setup – Instantly adds a ready-to-use VLD node group
✅ Dual Material Support – Blend two different shaders or node groups
✅ PBR-Optimized – Works with standard texture sets (Albedo, Roughness, Normal, Displacement)

💻 Requirements

• Blender 4.5+ (fully compatible with Blender 5.0)

• Works with both Eevee Next and Cycles

📦 Installation

🧩 Method 1 — Blender Extensions (Recommended)

1. Download the .zip from Superhive Market

2. Open Blender → Edit → Preferences → Extensions

3. Click the ▼ menu → Install from Disk...

4. Select the downloaded .zip

5. The addon installs and enables automatically

📁 Method 2 — Manual

1. Extract the .zip

2. Copy virtual_layer_displacement to your user extension folder:

   • Windows: C:\Users\<Name>\AppData\Roaming\Blender Foundation\Blender\4.5\extensions\user_default\

   • macOS: /Users/<Name>/Library/Application Support/Blender/4.5/extensions/user_default/

   • Linux: ~/.config/blender/4.5/extensions/user_default/

3. Restart Blender – done.

⚙️ Quick Start

🪄 Basic Workflow

1. Prepare your materials

   • Two BSDF materials or Scan50 groups, each with full PBR textures

   • Optional displacement textures connected

2. Add the VLD Node

   • Open the Shader Editor

   • Click the VLD icon in the top bar

   • The addon will:

     • Detect both materials

     • Insert the Virtual Layer Displacement node group

     • Wire everything automatically

3. Adjust the Blend

   • Level: controls overall blending

   • Displacement_Scale1 / 2: sets displacement strength

   • Mid_LVL1 / 2: shifts the midpoint

   • For best results → ensure your mesh has subdivisions

4. Render

   • Activate Rendered View

   • Use Subdivision Surface or Adaptive Subdivision (Cycles)

🧠 Node Reference

Inputs

• Shader1, Shader2 – Base materials

• Displacement1, Displacement2 – Height maps

• Scale1/2, Mid_LVL1/2 – Controls for displacement depth

• Factor – Blend strength (0 = Material 1, 1 = Material 2)

Outputs

• Shader → connect to Material Output → Surface

• Displacement → connect to Material Output → Displacement

🎨 Supported Material Types

Works with any properly structured PBR material (Albedo, Roughness, Normal, Displacement).

💡 Tips & Tricks

🧩 Subdivision is Key
Use at least 4–6 levels or Adaptive Subdivision for realistic displacement.

⚖️ Start Small
Set displacement scale between 0.1 – 0.5, adjust gradually.

🎚️ Perfect Blends
Animate the Factor value for dynamic transitions between materials.

🚀 Performance Tip
Use lower subdivisions in the viewport; full detail only at render time.

🔍 Scan50 Integration
Detects internal node groups and preserves all displacement parameters automatically.

🧰 Troubleshooting

If nodes don’t connect correctly:

• Ensure both materials contain valid BSDF and (optional) displacement nodes

• Disable conflicting node groups before applying VLD

• Restart Blender after installation if it doesn’t appear in the menu

📞 Support

For questions or feature requests:
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://cg-mechanics.de

🧩 Virtual Layer Displacement — Make your materials truly layered.