Normal Menu Settings

Controls Menu

Use the Encoding and Orientation settings to help Action with information on how the normal map was encoded and rendered. Then use the Normal Controls to tweak the map in Action.

Normals Source option

Select Face Analysis to create a normals map of a face using machine learning, using the Analysis menu to define an ROI if necessary. Select Media Input to use an existing normals map.

Encoding option

Select the order that the normal map is encoded based on the interpretation of the RGB channels (XYZ or XZY).

Range option

When working with floating point normal map media, select the range of the normal map media: [0, 1] or [-1, 1]. When working with 8-, 10-, or 12-bit images, the Range option displays the appropriate range for Action, but the drop-down is greyed out.

Orientation option

Select whether the orientation of the coordinate system of the map is Left Hand or Right Hand.

Up Axis option

Select which axis is the up axis of the map.

Camera option

Select which axis of the map corresponds to the Z axis in Action. The selection in the Up Axis option determines the available selections for this option.

Normals option

Select whether to combine or replace the normal map with the surface normals.

Select: To:
Combine Normals Combine the normals map texture with the surface’s normals.
Replace Normals Apply only the normal map texture to the surface (ignoring the surface normal properties).

Softness X field

Displays the amount of X-axis blur applied to the normal map.

Softness Y field

Displays the amount of Y-axis blur applied to the normal map.

Attenuation field

Displays the level of amplitude of the effect caused by the normal map texture.

X Normal axis

Displays the amount of offset in pixel units along the X axis.

Y Normal axis

Displays the amount of offset in pixel units along the Y axis.

Z Normal axis

Displays the amount of offset in pixel units along the Z axis.

Show Normals

Enable to display normal vectors over the surface (does not affect the render).

Normals colour

Displays the normal vectors colour.

Scale field

Displays the scale of the normal vectors.

Regen

Enable to dynamically refresh the image as changes are made to the normal settings.



Texture Menu

Repeat mode option

Select how the normal map pattern is repeated on the surface.

Fit Method option

Select a fit method option to be applied to the normal map.

Keep Aspect

Enable to preserve the aspect ratio of non-square pixels (not available for the Fill fit method).

Use Cropped Size

Enable to replace the normal map with the cropped size of the normal media. Disable to use the cropped normal media as is.

Mapping option

Select the type of texture mapping.

Select: Description: Result
Wrap (Geom UVs) Wrap mapping completely envelops the 3D model with the PBS map according to the object’s coordinates. To use this option, you must import a model that has its own texture coordinates. When using Wrap mode, you can also apply UV mapping settings from the Geometry menu.
Plane Planar mapping applies the map without distorting the front plane of the 3D model, similar to a movie projector casting an image onto a screen. All 3D coordinates of the geometry are mapped to this plane to generate the texture values. Planar mapping positions the lower-left corner of the diffuse map on the 3D model’s axis. When you apply planar mapping, any surfaces on the 3D model perpendicular to the front plane cause the pixels at the edge of the texture to project along the “sides” of the object.
Tri-Planar Similar to plane mapping, except that it applies the map from all 3 axes, blending using the normals orientation with respect to the axis of projection.
Perspective Perspective mapping is similar to planar mapping, except that it performs a perspective transformation of the texture map based on the selected camera’s field of view (FOV). When you select Perspective as the mapping type, the Perspective Camera option becomes active, allowing you to specify the active camera. The FOV of the camera has an impact on the resulting effect of any transform applied to the parent axis of the texture. On stereo cameras, the interaxial distance between left and right cameras also has an effect on the resulting perspective transform.
Tri-Perspective Similar to perspective mapping, except that it applies the map from all 3 axes, blending using the normals orientation with respect to the axis of perspective.
Projection The texture behaves as if it is projected by the selected camera. Projection mapping is useful as an alternative to projecting textures using the Projector node, especially when it is necessary to project while preserving a specific camera FOV.

Camera option

Specify which camera's FOV to take into account when using perspective or projection mapping.

Camera field

Displays the active perspective or projection camera number.

Stereo Camera Projection option

Select whether to use the centre, left, or right camera from a stereo camera rig when projection mapping.

Filter option

Select the type of filtering to apply to the normal map.

Type Description
Nearest No filtering — the pixel of the texture closest to the screen pixel is displayed.
Linear Basic bilinear filtering.
Anisotropic Non-proportional filtering between X and Y (faster to process than EWA, but with a lesser quality).
Aniso+Linear A combination of Anisotropic and Linear filtering.
EWA A high-quality elliptical weighted average filter to produce enhanced rendering results (slower to process than other filters).
EWA+Linear A combination of EWA and Linear filtering (offers the most advanced filter processing).
Tip: You can set the default filtering type in the Preferences tab of the Action Setup menu.

Camera Type option

Select the camera type visibility for the normal map. For example, you can use this setting to apply a Left Eye and Right Eye camera type for two maps that are children of the same surface or geometry in a stereo scene.

Note: If the Normal node is attached to a 3D Geometry node, you may need to select a UV Mapping mode other than Default in the Geometry menu for the normal pattern to have an effect on the geometry. See UV Menu Settings.


Analysis Menu

CPU Processing

Enable to perform the analysis with the CPU instead of the GPU. Using the CPU helps stability on computers equipped with minimal amounts of VRAM.

32-bit Floating Point

Enable to use create maps with 32-bit floating point precision. Disable to use 16-bit floating point precision for a smaller cache footprint, but at the cost of precision. Disable this option if you run out of media storage space because of caching.

Display Region of Interest

Display the Region Of Interest (ROI). The ROI can only appear in a viewport set to Object (F8) view.

Enable Region of Interest

Enable to analyze only the area defined by the Region Of Interest (ROI). A well-defined ROI can improve performance, caching, and the quality of the analysis.

ROI X Position field

Position of the centre of the Region Of Interest along the x-axis.

ROI Y Position field

Position of the centre of the Region Of Interest along the y-axis.

Caching Start field

The first frame of the interval to cache.

Caching End field

The last frame of the interval to cache.

Cache Range

Analyze the media, and caches the results for the interval defined by the From and To fields. If a Region of Interest is defined, only that area is analyzed and cached. Disables sections Analysis and Region of Interest.

Clear

Clear the cached motion analysis. Enables sections Analysis and Region of Interest.

Auto-Caching

Enable to cache the analysis during playback or scrub. Disable to cache the analysis only when you click Cache Range. Turn off Auto-Caching if you run out of space on your media storage.

Parent page: Normal Mapping