newb quesiton: Displacement map or normal map ?

AndroidBebop · Nov 2013

I am new to 3D modeling and I have a question, bare with me though as my English is not entirely great.

Could you give me an example of when I should use a displacement map over a normal map or vise versa?

Santewi · Nov 2013

Displacement maps are used for, like the name says, displacing the vertices on the model, which requires a somewhat tessellated mesh to work. Heightmaps are usually used as displacement maps, and you can use heightmaps for variety of different things apart from displacement. They are often used with tessellation, where the mesh gets more polygons but needs a way to display the extra detail.

Normal maps alter the normals of the surface, and therefore it is more suited for small-scale detail that is not smart to do with real geometry.

Nothing prevents you from using both at the same time, but normal maps are almost always used as they are not very expensive. However, displacement maps require a highly tessellated mesh to work, and most of the time it is possible to just model the detail into the model itself. Displacement maps are often used when you need to move the vertices around to achieve a certian effect, like waves on a water shader.

ZacD · Nov 2013

Normal maps are pretty much used for everything in current gen games. Displacements maps are mostly used for terrain, waves, and effects, but can be used on higher end PCs. Displacement maps can be similar to height maps which can be used for blending textures.

EarthQuake · Nov 2013

Displacement maps generally never replace normal maps, at least in games, as the displaced meshes are not re-normalized, so you wouldn't get accurate shading if you tried to use only a displacement map.

AndroidBebop · Nov 2013

Thank you guys, I found your replies very helpful.

AndroidBebop · Nov 2013

EarthQuake wrote: »

Displacement maps generally never replace normal maps, at least in games, as the displaced meshes are not re-normalized, so you wouldn't get accurate shading if you tried to use only a displacement map.

Do you texture the whole model at once or break it up into pieces to texture?

newb quesiton: Displacement map or normal map ?

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