GPU Gems 3

Chapter 22. Baking Normal Maps on the GPU

Diogo Teixeira Move Interactive

Ever since normal mapping (Heidrich and Seidel 1999) became a standard technique in modern real-time rendering, it has raised productivity issues for artists as they strive to meet the demands of higher visual standards within their usual time constraints. The use of adequate tools, however, helps reduce production time—as in the case of normal-map baking, where minutes can add up to hours and inflate production costs. The limiting factor, though, has been the computing power required to make baking time a trivial issue.

The modern GPU is an extremely valuable resource for scientific computing and visualization. It has yet, however, to be fully tapped as a viable computing ...