bob cooksey artist austin texas illustrator normal maps 3D art cartooning design textures texture artist Lewisville Dallas


Normal Maps are part of Next Gen technology in vidoegame art--they are basically a way to "fake" detail in low poly models and textures. Normal maps replace old school bump maps in the sense that they create a more 3 dimensional illusion--but fame is fleeting in the tech field as relief maps will soon replace normal maps for an even more realistic illusion! You can't fall asleep for five minutes in this field! Anyway, below are some images of normal-mapped, two-poly flat planes planes where detail is "faked" with normal maps...

Normal maps can also be used to fake rounded edges on low poly objects. Below are two meteorites I did a while back, and even though they are each less than 350 polys, they appear to be much higher in poly count.

And here is an example of a scene that isn't lit and doesn't have normal maps:

And here is the same scene lt with normal maps. The normals interact with the light and produces detail in the beams, boxes and barrels which isn't really there...


3D Main page	More normal maps

WARNING: These images are the property of Bob Cooksey c2004. DO NOT COPY. Violators will be prosecuted. If you would like to use a texture, contact me at bobcooksey@hotmail.com for permission.