(3ds max) Rendering 3d objects to bump maps

[NULLL]

i have modelled something and want to use the top down isometric render of this model as texture. So i simply render the top down viewport and use the render output as a diffuse channel in the texture for another object.
This works without problems, but i'm trying to find out if there's a way to render and object in max to a bumpmap, a bit like the 'distance map' renders in Bryce.

I want to do this cos some of my models are so big that my PC can barely handle them and render times are too high. So i figured i make low-poly versions of the models and replace the details by textures with bump and self-illumination maps. I can easily create illumination maps, based on the normal render, but in most cases making a bump-map is too much work since i need smooth changes in heights...

Is it possible to render height maps or bump maps in 3ds max or should i be making them myself?

[Death_monkey]

You can try using render to texture

[NULLL]

yea ive tried that feature, but doesn't seem to be doing what i want. Ive tried some plugins and other softwares, but in general the created bumpmaps applied to an object are (imo) too low of quality and mostly these bumpmaps cannot be exported as image files, so i'll probably stick to high detailed poly objects with additional small details thanx to bitmaps (f.i. bolts on plating of a space ship included in the texture and bump map).

[Death_monkey]

can't you just paint your Bump maps in photoshop or are you after the sort of result you get from normal mapping

[NULLL]

I can paint them, but i figure it would take as longs as modelling the details myself. What i want to do is create a high detail object, lets say a bunch of tubes and wires and boxes. The idea is to not having to duplicate the geometry to other parts but to create a bump map of it and then simply apply that bump map to an object.

I wanted to know if this is possible cos i would use it mostly on space ships. I could model 10 or so different panels each with a lot of details and make 10 bump maps of those, then i would take a finished space ship, and use these maps to texture 1000 or more panels (undetailed, just faces), so i still have reasonable details but not the heaps of polygons. I found a few software packages or plugins that do this, but these need the original geometry to be present in the scene and the bump output cannot be saved as a seperate bump map. On top of that the results are not good for what i'm trying to achieve in terms of level of detail. But i can see how usefull it can be for games where low poly rates are important.

If i could turn geometry in almost identical bump maps it may seriously decrease render time (i think).