This is now the third time I've posted this, but its useful for proving a point.
| An example of Specular Highlights | |
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| An example of Specular Reflection |
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| Before Applying Bump map | After applying Bump map |
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| ^^Note how bump mapping is used to take advantage of specular highlights. | |
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I also really liked their fur shaders....
I also wanted to point out that normal mapping is really nothing more than the proper application of bump maps. In essence a bump map is a heightmap (essentially a specialized texture) that is used to "change" the way the object is shaded. Typically to have amazing looking models you would need millions of polygons to get all of the detail required...the idea however is that with this extra texture you can impose the detail without the use of millions of polygons per model. I can't show you an in-game usage of normal mapping simply because when its done right you shouldn't be able to just tell from a screenshot. But I can give an example of what I mean:
In the bump mapping example I showed above with the orange here is what the heightmap looks like:
| Model Before Bump Mapping |
Heightmap to be used | Result of Bump Mapping |
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Note all of these pictures are clearly in-game and I can verify that they look this good (actually a bit better) on a 46" 1080p LCD. You'll note that the pictures of GC and Xbox games are lacking the majority(all?) of these techniques.
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| To Each Man, Responsibility |
