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Part IV: Materials, Cameras, and Lighting Basics

FIGURE 18.7
This marquee is randomly lighted, thanks to the MaterialByElement modifier.

Cross-Ref
More details on working with maps are covered in Chapter 17, “Adding Material Details with Maps.” n
One drawback to using displacement maps is that you cannot see their result in the viewport, but if you
apply the Modifiers ➪ Surface ➪ Displace Mesh (WSM) modifier, then the displacement map becomes visi-
ble in the viewports. If you change any of the displacement map settings, you can update the results by
clicking the Update Mesh button in the Displacement Approx rollout.

Note
The Displace modifier requires a dense mesh in order to see the results of the displacement map, but the Disp
Approx modifier creates the required density at render time. n

Tutorial: Displacing geometry with a bitmap
When faced with how to displace an object using a bitmap, Max once again comes through with several
ways to accomplish the task. The method you choose depends on the pipeline. You can choose to keep the
displacement in the Modifier Stack or on the material level. This simple tutorial compares using both of
these methods.
To compare the Displace modifier with a displacement map, follow these steps:

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