Crumpled is a terrific method of making surfaces like crumpled paper. It makes a surface with sharply-creased folds of different scales. The denting can also be inverted, causing a surface that looks sort of like piled berries. When used in this latter manner, weird bubbly effects can be made, including very realistic cauliflower.

Crumpled looks best when it is applied to an object that looks thin and crumpleable, like paper, metal foil, or clothes. You could apply it to a boulder, but then it would look like a boulder wrapped with tinfoil (which could be the effect you’re looking for!). The exception to this advice is when you’re using transparent objects to make ice or chipped-glass effects. In these cases, the Crumpled texture is extremely effective, especially when the object’s index of refraction is set to a value more than about 1.05.

Crumpled adds creases of different sizes, starting with a base size. Each additional scale of detail will slow the texture down, but will produce a richer appearance. More than three scales are rarely necessary. The relative power of these smaller scales can be defined, with a small power like 0.5 being a natural appearance, but a power of around 1.1 making an interesting packed-gouges look. The example attribute files help show the effect of this small-scale power adjustment.