Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Normal Mapping
Noob Warning: This technique is best used for models and animation, and is not well used and applied in the Blender Game Engine
Normal Mapping in 3D graphics development is the process of using an RGB color-map to create a three-dimensional relief on a two-dimensional plane. The source for the normal map in blender can either be a texture already installed in Blender, or using an external picture-file (.jpg, .jpeg, .bmp, and so on) and loading it as a normal map. One great aspect of Blender and normal maps is that Blender can very easily be used to create normal maps that can be turned around and used in blender to reduce poly count. This tutorial will show the various ways to create a normal map and how to apply different normal maps to your model in Blender.
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