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Question by Emanrice · Jul 15, 2011 at 09:23 PM · performanceoptimizationnormalmap

Which is faster, modeling or normal map?

Say I want to add some indentations or something to a model, would using a Normal Map to it be faster, or would modeling it be faster?

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Answer by Bunny83 · Jul 15, 2011 at 10:39 PM

:D what a question. Normalmapping has been invented to reduce the poly count and to increase the performance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_mapping

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avatar image Emanrice · Jul 16, 2011 at 01:41 AM 0
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So I should use a Normal $$anonymous$$ap ins$$anonymous$$d?

avatar image Bunny83 · Jul 16, 2011 at 01:27 PM 0
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As DaveA said for small optical bumps you almost always use a normalmap. What do you actually mean by "faster"? Do you worry about the performance of your game, or do you want to create your model faster (speed up the workflow)?

I'm a programmer so i can't give you any good tips on how to create normalmaps the most efficient way.

avatar image Emanrice · Jul 16, 2011 at 05:08 PM 0
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Performance wise. I've read somwhere that Normal $$anonymous$$aps are pretty expensive, so I was wondering if they really were. So I guess Normal $$anonymous$$aps it is then, thanks!

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Answer by DaveA · Jul 16, 2011 at 12:09 AM

Depends on the depth of the dents. If they're pretty substantial, then you'd have to model it, but normal mapping helps with light stuff. There are other types of maps to help with slightly deeper stuff (self-occlusion or some such), but their aren't many shaders that support that. BTW Check out Crazy Bump (google it), and also there's a good video tutorial about how to use Blender to create good normal maps for low-poly high-quality models.

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avatar image Emanrice · Jul 16, 2011 at 01:42 AM 0
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They're just slight ones, not very deep at all. And I'll check Crazy Bump, thanks!

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