3D depth from heightmap luminance?

Suppose I’ve set a Height for a heightmap at 2.2 mm. This is a inverted subtractive element so I surmise pure black will mill 2.2 mm deep.

Now suppose there’s a particular spot in that map of which I’d like to determine the depth. If, in my vector drawing program (AD), I sample the prospective heightmap image (B&W) at that spot and get a Luminance value of 0.40, can I assume that spot will have a milled depth of 0.40 x 2.2 = 0.88 mm?

I have a situation where I have no ball bits small enough yet long enough to get into a tiny crevice so thought I’d pocket that area with a square bit. An alternative would be to just use the square bit, 3D style, on a subset outline of the heightmap but I’m not sure if this is sound procedure. The heightmap is relatively uniform over this small area, maybe that would work?

Yes.

You can verify this by removing a cross section then modeling an equal height area.

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