In 3D computer graphics, normal mapping, or "Dot3 bump mapping", is a technique used for faking the lighting of bumps and dents - an implementation of Bump mapping. It is used to add details without using more polygons. A common use of this technique is to greatly enhance the appearance and details of a low polygon model by generating a normal map from a high polygon model or height map.
Normal maps are commonly stored as regular RGB images where the RGB components corresponds to the X, Y, and Z coordinates, respectively, of the surface normal.
Read more about Normal Mapping: History, How It Works, Calculating Tangent Space, Normal Mapping in Video Games
Famous quotes containing the word normal:
“Cant is always rather nauseating; but before we condemn political hypocrisy, let us remember that it is the tribute paid by men of leather to men of God, and that the acting of the part of someone better than oneself may actually commit one to a course of behaviour perceptibly less evil than what would be normal and natural in an avowed cynic.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)