Magic Sphere #1

This art is created using Height Maps. A height map or height field is a raster image used mainly as Discrete Global Grid in secondary elevation modelings. Each pixel stores values, such as surface elevation data, for display in 3D computer graphics. A height map can be used in bump mapping to calculate where this 3D data would create shadow in a material, in displacement mapping to displace the actual geometric position of points over the textured surface, or for terrain where the height map is converted into a 3D mesh.

Heightmaps are an ideal way to store digital terrain elevations; compared to a regular polygonal mesh, they require substantially less memory for a given level of detail.