About Normal Mapping

About Normal Mapping. This is not a normal map tutorial. It will not tell you how to bake a normal map using a 3D app (there are plenty of tutorials for that), but it will highlight some common misunderstandings that some beginner to intermediate users have, often spreading them around as fact. When you have hard edges in your low poly, you need to separate the edges in the UV unwrap. That way you get a clean normal map and a clean mesh.
Since even the Wii has a lighting system it’s not really a problem. The lion in the middle has no specularity at all, but as you can see the normal map is doing just fine. The one on the right shows a normal and specular map, and you can see that the specular maps does help push those normals a bit further, and define the material more. Generally a normal map will help the specularity when there are curved surfaces and the low poly doesn’t have those curves.

Download PDF About Normal Mapping

About Normal Mapping