2008
Component Options (Selected Elements Unique Settings)
For a lighting map, you can choose not to render shadows, direct light, or
indirect light.
Normals Map
A normals map saves a color gradient that indicates the direction of normals
on the surface of the object. With a normals map, Direct3D rendering can
make simple geometry appear more complex.
With DirectX 8, you can view a normals map in shaded viewports by using
the
Metal Bump Direct3D viewport shader on page 5599 .
With DirectX 9, you can view a normals map in any shaded viewport.
Component Options (Selected Elements Unique Settings)
There are two unique settings for a normals map:
Output into Normal Bump When on, assigns a Normal Bump map to the
Target Map Slot, and places the rendered Normal Bump map in the Normal
component of the
Normal Bump map on page 5844 . Default=off.
Render Height Map into Alpha Channel When on, renders a grayscale height
map and assigns it to the alpha channel of the Normal map. If you are
rendering to a file type that doesn't have an alpha channel, this setting has
no effect. Default=off.
Height Map
A height map is a grayscale map that stores the relative height of the source
object when you render with normal projection. (See
Creating and Using
Normal Bump Maps
on page 6182 .) You can use the height map as a
displacement map on the target object. This is a way to add detail to the edges
of the low-resolution object, because edges are not affected by the normal
bump map itself.
NOTE When using a height map as a displacement map with the mental ray
renderer, be sure to use the
Height Map Displacement shader on page 5828 . Also,
turn off Smoothing, either
globally on page 6117 or for the individual object on
the Object Properties dialog >
mental ray panel on page 262 . In addition, when
rendering with mental ray, if you're applying the height map to a standard material,
apply the map as a Displacement map on the mental ray Connection rollout on
page 5289 (unlock the map first), not on the Maps rollout.
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