Hi Craig,
This is what I achieved using an alpha map and displacement. What I did was to create a single grid cell using the extrude method and render it out. Then I used that image in the alpha and displacement channels, and then tiled it on to my model.
Tried using a normal map to get the bevel, but it was not working.
The mapping is a bit off and the displacement gets a bit crappy if you look closer, but it does a pretty good job I think.
<a href="http://images.creativecow.net/232974/alphagridmaptest.png"><img src="http://i1.creativecow.net/u/232974/alphagridmaptest.png" border="0" /></a>
Siddharth G Singh
Film | Motion | Illustration
http://www.siddharthgsingh.com 
