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Displacement is the deforming of geometry based on pixel values in a texture map. This can help create more detail on geometry at render time while allowing objects in the viewport to be lighter and easier to work with.

Displacement is different than traditional bump mapping because it alters the actual polygons on the geometry to add detail. Displacement can also change the edges and silhouette of the geometry, which is not possible with the lighting tricks used by bump or normal mapping.

The VRayDisplacement node can be used to control the displacement on geometry objects. The node behaves like a Maya Set and can be found in the Outliner or the Set Editor where other objects can easily be added to the set. This provides flexibility when combined with the Subdivision and Displacement Quality and Displacement Control Extra Attributes, which control displacement on a per-object basis instead of every object having the Default Displacement settings. These Extra Attributes can be added to an individual object node to affect the displacement of one object, or they can be added to a VRayDisplacement node to affect several objects together (similar to a Shading Group node). This rendering technique is available in both V-Ray and IPR renderings as long as the Displacement option is enabled under Geometry Overrides in the Render Settings window.

To add a VRayDisplacement node, select the desired mesh(es) and use one of the UI Paths below to create the Maya Set used for the Displacement. Then you can add the Subdivision and Displacement Quality and Displacement Control Extra Attributes to the VRayDisplacement node to further control the displacement for the selected meshes.