Photoshop displacement maps to Maya

                              Using a displacement maps in Autodesk Maya is very useful for closeup ground animation. You   can use normal mapping or bump mapping but they are not highly detailed methods. In this tutorial you will learn how to create a custom displacement map in photoshop and import it in to Maya.

                  Go to photoshop and create a new image. If you are using layered texture in Maya you have to use UV Snapshot in UV texture editor for better results. Fill the image in black color(shift+F5). Black color is set your displacement value to zero. Click the brush tool and select suitable brush(use lower opacity). Paint on the canvas(look below image) in white color. More white will be higher ground height value in Maya.

                               Save the image as a TGA format. Open your Autodesk Maya scene. Create a new material(lambert,blinn etc) and a file node in Hypershade. Select the file node and go to attributes editor. Open your TGA image file. Drag and drop the file node to material using middle mouse button. In drop down menu select displacement map.

                           Assign the material to your object(ground). Render your scene(you have to render your scene to see the displacement). If your model is not displaying correctly you have to increase the Patches U and Patches V(for nurbs) or increase the initial sample rate in Displacement map section.

                           After you done the modifications click the Calculate Bounding Box Scale button. If your ground height value is too high decrease the alpha gain value.

                            Go to Modify->Convert->Displacement to Polygons. You can see a new polygon plane is created according to your displacement map.