normal
The normal map for the entity.
Declaration
var normal: PhysicallyBasedMaterial.Normal { get set }Mentioned in
Discussion
Normal mapping is a real-time rendering technique that captures fine surface details for a model using a texture instead of increasing the number of polygons in the model. It works by storing surface normals, which are vectors perpendicular to the surface of the model, from a much higher resolution version of the same 3D object. A normal map stores each vector in the image by storing the vectors’ X, Y, and Z values as the R, G, and B components of the corresponding pixel in the UV-mapped image.
If you provide a normal map, RealityKit uses the normals stored in the image to do lighting calculations. This results in much more realistic highlights, shadows, and reflections without incurring the computational cost of using a much higher resolution 3D model. RealityKit uses tangent-space normal maps.
The following code loads a normal map texture and uses it to set this property:
if let normalResource = try? TextureResource.load(named:
"entity_normals") {
let normalMap = MaterialParameters.Texture(normalResource)
material.normal = PhysicallyBasedMaterial.Normal(texture:normalMap)
}