A normal map is a texture that simulates surface details on a 3D model without increasing the actual polygon count. It encodes the direction of the surface normal for each texel, allowing a flat surface to appear bumpy and detailed under lighting. This technique is crucial for creating visually rich models with efficient performance.
Implementing surface detail through this approach offers substantial advantages in rendering performance compared to high-polygon modeling. By faking the appearance of complexity through lighting manipulation, designers can achieve intricate visual results without the computational cost of managing millions of polygons. This methodology also has a history rooted in optimization techniques for early 3D graphics rendering.
