Firstly, it makes materials incredibly realistic. This ability to actually manipulate 3D surfaces is great for a couple of reasons.
The one on the right, however, literally has those bumps that you see in the image above. The one on the left is still a perfect circle even though it looks like there’s a texture on it. They physically manipulate 3D geometry to make the texture, and if you look at the silhouettes of the two below, you’ll get the gist. Displacement maps, on the other hand, actually create that texture. They manipulate light and shadow to make it look like a surface has a texture, but in reality, that texture is an optical illusion.
Bump maps only simulate texture, they don’t create it. The one on the left uses a bump map, and the other on the right has a displacement map. If you’re wondering what the difference between bump maps and displacement maps are, just take a look at the image below. You could only use bump maps in Keyshot to simulate textures, but that’s all. Up until now, perhaps the biggest thing missing from Keyshot’s arsenal was its support for depth or displacement maps.
#SHOT DESIGNER ADD DIFFUSION HOW TO#
The guys at Luxion just released their latest version of Keyshot, and I’m absolutely thrilled because displacement maps are one feature I was rather impatiently waiting for! Displacement (or depth) maps are an absolutely great way to create real textures that can absolutely make your renders POP! Let’s take a look at what this newfangled feature is and how to master it! DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BUMP AND DISPLACEMENT MAPS