Normal mapping

An introduction to normal mapping

In today games and realtime 3D applications, the use of Normal mapping offer the opportunity to create incredibly detailed models, without having to overload the graphic hardware with millions of polygons.

To achieve that, Normal mapping shaders used a particular texture map that store extra information about the model they belong to. They actually store Normal vectors that will be used to modify the aspect of the model.

This textures aren’t the same than the grayscale images used in bump mapping, but multichannel images where each channel store informations concerning one of the directions of the vectors (x, y or z). Considering that, Normal maps can’t be obtained using traditional tools. Thus, the purpose of this series of tutorials is not only to get you through the process of importing and using a map in Visual3D.NET but also to get you familiar with simple and free tools allowing the creation of Normal map.

Available tutorials for this subject. -----------------      ------------------- Before begining : Check if your mesh is ready for normal mapping.  Tutorial 1 : Normal mapping from a simple texture map. Tutorial 2 : Normal mapping from a High-poly version of your model.  Tutorial 3 : Importing and using your normal map in Visual 3D.NET (coming soon too) Tutorial 4 : Parallax mapping (also coming soon)  -----------------      -------------------

                                                                                     ---------------------Work in progress-------------------------

It's not finished yet, but the first tutorial already gives you informations about which software could be used, and how. The next part will coming soon.