A comparison with and without normal maps

I implemented a normal map into my tiny graphics engine (I’ve gotten by mostly with phong shading for my research work, so yeah I should do more graphics stuff I thought), and also to learn about tangent space. I saw firsthand the remarkable difference a normal map brings.

Map without normal map

Map with normal map (same lighting as above)

It’s pretty cool how much more detail a normal map brings into your models. Hope to integrate more features like this.