1. In an animation processing system, having a display or capability to output a display, a processor and memory, a method of generating a per-face vector displacement map, wherein a vector displacement represents displacement of points or regions of an object being processed by the animation processing system, the method comprising: identifying, by a processor, an object to be processed, wherein the object is represented by data structures; identifying a plurality of faces of the object to be processed; subdividing, by a sequence of subdivision steps, a first face in the plurality of faces into polygons that at least approximate the first face, wherein the polygons are smaller than the first face; storing, for each subdivision step in the sequence of subdivision steps, a location of an original polygon and locations of a plurality of smaller polygons obtained from subdividing the original polygon; accepting vector displacement information for a first polygon of the after polygons, the vector displacement being relative to the location of the first polygon subdividing; identifying a displaced position of the first polygon based on the vector displacement information; determining an original location on the first face of the object corresponding to the first polygon by determining, for one or more of the subdivision steps, a location of an original polygon associated with a subdivided polygon; and generating a per-face vector displacement map for the first face using the original location of the first polygon and the displaced position of the first polygon, wherein the per-face vector displacement map comprises a displacement from the original location on the first face to the displaced position of the first polygon.