Guild of Writers

Deledrius wrote: I suspect that normal maps computed by the renderer will probably always be superior to ones converted from a flat texture.

I doubt it,
to my opinion the result of the renderer depends on the normals and not the other way around .
So you have to create the normals first before you can render it.

I am learning to handle the " unreal engine 4 " since a short period.
So i repeat all the lessons as teached by Epic in the many video 's which are available on youtube.

Have a look at this tutorial called " Introduction to Materials in UE4 - 3 - Adding Textures to a Material" :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIMmDVLqh1s

Its a great example of how the bump is created from a texture to let the renderer behave as intended.

I think perhaps you misunderstand what I meant.

I was comparing the source of the normal map, as either way the result is eventually an image applied to a material and rendered to imply surface geometry. What I was saying is that one generated by a high-res, detailed mesh and rendered out to a normal map will be superior to one which is programmatically converted (usually by guessing at depth values by looking at the darkness of the pixels).

Of course, very simple things normal maps, or ones which have been hand-tweaked by an expert are going to be exceptions.

It's one step back in the process from what you're talking about, I think. The typical purpose of a normal map is to simulate a high-detail mesh on a low-detail one, so yes the end result relies on a well-made normal map. My assertion is that to get a well-made normal map the real deal will be better than a simulation.

Yes, you are completely right in it that it when its derived from a high poly applied to a low poly, its better due to the better source.
It did misunderstand your first comments, that happens me (to) often when reading foreign languages.

That said, for a lot of uses, the tool-converted maps (like the one you mentioned) work more than sufficiently well.

dendwaler wrote:It did misunderstand your first comments, that happens me (to) often when reading foreign languages.

It happens to all of us. We have people from all over the world here, which is truly great!