From [pov:6.7.2.3]:
Instead of placing the color of the image on the shape like an image_map a bump_map perturbs the surface normal based on the color of the image at that point. The result looks like the image has been embossed into the surface. By default, a bump map uses the brightness of the actual color of the pixel.
BUMP_MAP: normal { bump_map { BITMAP_TYPE "bitmap.ext" [BUMP_MAP_MODS...] } [NORMAL_MODFIERS...] } BITMAP_TYPE: gif | tga | iff | ppm | pgm | png | jpeg | tiff | sys BUMP_MAP_MOD: map_type Type | once | interpolate Type | use_color | use_colour | bump_size Value
Andreas Kriegl 2003-07-23