3D Research: Texture Mapping

What is a diffuse/colour map?

A diffuse map is the most commonly used form of texture map, it defines the colour and pattern of an object. Mapping the diffuse colour is like painting an image on the surface of the object.

What is a specular map?

Specular maps are used to define the shininess and highlight colour of an object/surface. The higher the value of a pixel, the shinier the object/surface will appear in-game.

What is a normal map?

Normal mapping or “Dot3 bump mapping” is a technique that is used to fake the lighting of bumps and dents, it is used to add more details without using more polygons.

What other kinds of texture mapping are there?

Parallax mapping: parallax mapping is an enhancement of the bump or normal mapping techniques applied in 3D rendering applications such as video games. To the end user, it means that textures such as stone walls will have more apparent depth and thus greater realism with less of an influence on the performance of the simulation.

Displacement mapping: displacement mapping is an alternative computer graphics technique in contrast to bump/normal/parallax mapping, using a procedural, texture or height map to cause an effect where the actual geometric position of points over the textured surface are displaced. It gives surfaces a great sense of depth and detail.

Reflection mapping: reflection or environment mapping is an efficient image based lighting technique for approximating the appearance of a reflective surface by means of a previously computed texture image.

What does PBR rendering mean?

Physically based rendering (PBR) refers to the concept of using realistic shading/lighting models along with measured surface values to accurately represent real-world materials. PBR is more of a concept than a strict set of rules and as such, the exact implementations of PBR systems tend to vary.