3D Compositing with Action > Action: Textures > Normal Mapping >
Normal Menu Settings

The Normal menu is divided into two tabbed sections: Controls and Texture.

Controls Tab

(a) Encoding box(b) Normals box(c) Orientation box(d) Camera box(e) Up Axis box

Encoding box
  Select the encoding order of the normal map, based on the interpretation of the RGB channels (XYZ or XZY).
Range box
  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 box displays the appropriate range for Action, but the option is greyed out.
Orientation box
  Select whether the orientation of the coordinate system of the normal map is Left Hand or Right Hand.
Up Axis box
  Select which axis is the up axis of the normal map.
Camera box
  Select which axis of the normal map corresponds to the Z axis in Action. The selection in the Up Axis box determines the available selections in the Camera box.
Normals box
  Select how the normal interacts with the surface.

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 softness applied to the normal map texture.
Softness Y field
  Displays the amount of Y-axis softness applied to the normal map texture.
Attenuation field
  Displays the level of amplitude of the effect caused by the normal map texture.
Normal axes
  Specifies the amount of offset in pixel units along the X, Y, and Z axes.
Show Normals button
  Enable to display normal vectors over the surface.
Scale field
  Displays the scale of the normal vectors.
Normals colour pot
  Select a colour for the display of normal vectors.
Regen button
  Enable to dynamically refresh the image as changes are made to the normal settings.

Texture Tab

(a) Repeat Mode box(b) Mapping box(c) Camera Type box(d) Fit Method box(e) Filter box

Repeat Mode box
  Select how the normal map pattern is repeated on the surface.
Fit Method box
  Select a fit method option to be applied to the normal map.
Keep Aspect button
  Enable to preserve the aspect ratio of non-square pixels (not available for the Fill fit method).
Use Cropped Size button
  Enable to replace the normal map with the cropped size of the normal media. Disable to use the cropped normal media as is.
Mapping box
  Select the type of texture mapping.

Wrap (Geom UVs) Wrap mapping completely envelops the 3D model with the texture map according to the object’s texture 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. See Using UV Mapping.
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 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.
Perspective Perspective mapping is similar to planar mapping, except that it performs a perspective transformation of the map based on the selected camera’s field of view (FOV). When you select Perspective as the mapping type, the Perspective Camera box 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.
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 POV.

Camera box
  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 box
  Select whether to use the centre, left, or right camera from a stereo camera rig when projection mapping.
Filter box
  Select the type of filtering to apply to the normal map.

Select: | To apply:
--- | ---
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).

TipYou can set the default filtering type, as well as EWA filtering functionality in the Action Setup menu.

Camera Type box
  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.

NoteIf the Normal node is attached to a 3D Geometry or 3D Text node, you must select a UV Mapping mode other than None in the Geometry menu for the normal pattern to have an effect on the geometry. See Using UV Mapping.