Normal maps have become a commonly used technique that has helped define the look of the current generation of video games. The purpose of a normal map is to make a low poly model look like a high poly model.
Usually, this means two different models need to be created to “transfer” the information from the high-resolution mesh to the low-resolution mesh.
Below are examples of a tangent space normal map baked from a high poly model and applied to a low poly version.
Each surface on a model has a normal direction. The surface normal is like a perpendicular line protruding outwards from the surface of the polygon. Normal maps ...
Get 3ds Max Modeling for Games, 2nd Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
