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When RenderMan shades a 3D object, you are given the opportunity to refine the location of the final modeled surface in space in displacement shading.
You are then given the tools to refine how an object interacts with light to define its color in material shading.
Displacement and material shading is described to the renderer via networks of interconnected nodes like textures connected to material properties.
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For advanced users, there are several options for creating your own nodes from scratch, these topics are not covered here and instead can be found in our Developer documentation.
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Displacement
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