Normal/Bump maps

Normal maps

Affects the direction of light bouncing off a surface considering the vertex normal coordinates stored in the this texture. This is giving the impression that there is actualy more geometry interfering with the light.These maps use the RGB data of the image to determine the vertex normals of the geometry. The RGB pixels data represent the XYZ coordinates of the vector normals.

Typically, this map is generated by 3D software that can export the calculated normals as a RGB image.

Bump maps

They are aproximating the normal vectors of the geometry, based on a height map. The lighter a pixel is, the more height it adds to the geometry. This map is not as accurate as a normal map, but it is easier to generate because it uses only black and white information. The render engine actually converts bump map data into normal maps when the scene is loaded, but the uploaded texture is not modified. This way the user can continue working with black and white image as bump map.

When exporting to GLTF file, a normal map will be exported along with the bump map. Bump Maps are not included in GLTF specifications.

* Add a normal texture or a bump texture