Normals From Height Node - Derive

Derive Node Reference

Normals From Height Node

Description

This node has the ability to extract an normal map from a given heightmap. This is done on the basis of a sobel operation. Derive will interpret any input as a grayscale heightmap, regardless of whether it actually is one or not.

Sample Tree

Properties

Property Name	Property Type	Description
Strength	Float Slider	Set the strength of the non-vertical values of the normal map. The higher the value, the stronger the normal map effect.
Overdet.	Float	The overdetermination of the normal map is a factor to the normal strength. The absolute strength calculates as 'Overdetermination x Strength' This is required due to the vast range of possible normal map strengths which depend on the specified bias. A lower bias will require a higher absolute strength to render a normal map.
Bias	Float Slider	The bias determines how much steepness should be included into the operation. High values mean, that even near-horizontal parts of the height field are included, while lower values limit the operation to steep areas of the height field.
Smoothness	Float Slider	Smoothens out the final result to avoid artifacts, but also reduces the detail of the normal map. Depending on the input heightmap, a well balanced value must be found.

Inputs

Input Name	Allowed Data Types	Description
Heightmap	Float, RGBA (automatically converted to grayscale, becoming float data)	Input that takes the heightmap for the normal map extraction.

Outputs

Output Name	Data Type	Description
Normal Map	RGBA	Outputs a normal map extracted from the inputted heightmap, based on the given properties.