ZBrush Character Creation - Advanced Digital Sculpting 2nd Edition

330 chapter 9 ■ Normal Maps, Displacement Maps, Maya, and Decimation Master

A normal map is an RGB image file. Each

channel of the map (R, G, and B) represents one

of the three axes (x, y, and z). In Figure 9.54 the

individual channels of a normal map have been

isolated to help illustrate this. The Red, or R,

channel represents the surface lit from the right;

the G channel represents light from above,

or the Y direction; and B is light shining down

the z-axis.

Rendering Normal Maps in Maya

In this section we’ll generate a normal map in

ZBrush. You have already seen how to gener-

ate normal maps in ZBrush. Now we will look

at the process in a little more depth, including

how to export the map alone. We’ll then move

to Maya where we’ll set up shaders and render

the normal map (Figure 9.55).

Figure 9.55 The normal map displaying on the character in Maya’s viewport

red green blue

Figure 9.54 The individual channels of a normal map