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DarkBASIC Professional Discussion / Normal, Relief, Parallax mapping - What's the difference?

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Quel
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Posted: 4th Feb 2011 16:06
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I'm very sorry if this is not the best place for the thread, but i only really know this one, and that some mayor shader geniuses also tend to visit it regularly.

So, my question is:

Why is there three (?) differently named solutions for the same problem. Basically popping in & out effect, achieved by using grayscale maps to enhance the look of an otherwise lowpoly object.

And by the way which one is best for what situations? Is any of them faster than the rest?
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Quel
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Posted: 4th Feb 2011 16:07
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Ops, yeah yeah i know, normal maps aren't grayscale, i just rushed it all together after an hour of mindless looking around...
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Green Gandalf
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Playing: Malevolence:Sword of Ahkranox, Skyrim, Civ6.
Posted: 4th Feb 2011 16:49
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I believe the differences are essentially these:

1. Normal mapping uses a special texture known as a normal map which stores coded values of the surface normals at each pixel. These normals say which direction the surface faces at each pixel. This information is then used to calculate the lighting.

2. Relief mapping uses a grayscale heightmap to calculate the lighting - by using it to calculate the surface normals.

3. Parallax mapping uses a heightmap to slightly offset the drawn pixels so that when the surface is viewed from an angle high bumps will obscure lower bumps behind them. Parallax mapping is usually combined with 1 or 2.

In terms of speed I'd expect 1 to be fastest and 3 the slowest. 1 and 3 combined will give the best results but usually 1 is sufficient unless you are spending a lot of time studying minute surface detail.

Much depends on the quality of your normal maps and grayscale heightmaps.
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Quel
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Posted: 4th Feb 2011 18:30
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Thank you very much for this detailed answer, actually i had you in mind who might let me know
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swissolo
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Posted: 18th Feb 2011 22:51 Edited at: 18th Feb 2011 22:56
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Wait.... GG, Relief mapping is much more grafics intensive than parallax mapping. It's similar to Parallax mapping but includes self shading along with some other things. I notice a wierd gritty distortion at angles though. I don't quite understand why... But this isn't my area of expertice. So.... I'd go with at least paralax mapping myself because I find it easier to create. A normal map made directly from a texture isn't necessarily accurate unless you use a depthmap in the first place to make it. So, then you already have the depthmap...

Sorry if I doesn't understand, as I said I'm not an expert. But does anyone know a way around the gritty look.
Edit: figuired I'd Post a picture of it.....

Is it just a miscalculation? But paralax mapping doesn't do this....

swis

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swissolo
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Posted: 18th Feb 2011 22:59 Edited at: 18th Feb 2011 23:00
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and, I have a comparison for ya.
Floor = Relief
Box = Parallax

This is a BAD example but notice a few things like the little nubs on the boxes. Usually relief mapping lookes MUCH better than parallax. (But it's not like we're all pro's so it doesn't matter as much)

Anyways sorry for littering this thread....

swis

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