Normal displacement...

[EricChadwick]

Can't use a normal map as a displacement map. Normal maps only approximate curvature, they don't approximate depth. You cannot convert a normal map into a displacement map either. You need to re-generate a height map or displacement map from your highres model, if your tool supports it.

Good render-time displacement in 3ds max requires use of a third-party renderer, can't recall which one. If you don't mind low-quality, you could use the Displacement modifier instead.

[Rivendale]

Ok, I see, thanks for the info.
Are there any freeware tools for generating height-maps?

[EricChadwick]

http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=79705

[chach]

I believe I have seen one on blurbeta. http://www.blur.com/blurbeta

[Rivendale]

Thanks for the links, very cool stuff posm! Especially the discussions on Spiraloid. All the tools seems to be for Maya though except for Kaldera from Mankua wich is not freeware. Did I miss any tool that works with MAX?

[EricChadwick]

Mike Bunnell's normalmapper extension is a standalone app that reads OBJ files. You can export from max as OBJ, using this plugin... http://www.habware.at/duck4.htm#MAX2OBJ

I think ORB does displacement too.
http://www.soclab.bth.se/practices/orb.html

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