Step 1

Open the “sand_start.max” scene and assign V-Ray as the rendering engine (no matter what version you are using). Set it for a test render so you don’t waste too much time in this demonstration. The following image show how I usually do it, which doesn’t mean you can’t do it your way 🙂

Render Settings

Step 2

Next step will be to create a plane of 500x500cm centered in X, Y and Z and with 100 segments in both directions like so.

Setting up the work plane

Step 3

Now let’s add a “Displace” modifier, set the strength to 30cm, open the material editor, go to the very last material and instance the map from the diffuse slot to the empty map slot in the displace modifier.

Adding Noise

Step 4

Apply the “Sand” material, you will see how the colors will change in the plane to a red, green and blue gradient. The gradient will determin the levels of the color, bump and displacement depending on the height of the surface, and for that reason we need to add a “UVW Map” modifier and set it as shown in the following image.

UVW Mapping of displacement height

Step 5

First Make sure the “Real-World Map Size” option is turned off and then, the last step is to add a “VRayDisplacement” modifier, set it to 3D mapping with amount of 30cm, then back to the material editor and in the “sand” material, instance the gradient from the “Displace” slot to the “Texmap” slot in the “VRayDisplacement” modifier.

V-Ray Displacement

Step 6

Hit render and that’s it for now.

Initial Render

I made available also a video tutorial where I go further and apply some other technique like adding grass with Particle Flow or a VRayDisplacement to a tree. Please check it out above, at the beginning of this post, if skipped it 🙂

Final Render

Thank You, Javi Pintor.

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