Houdini 20.5 Nodes Copernicus nodes

Convert Normal Copernicus node

Converts normal layers between signed and offset.

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The natural way to represent normals, and how they are represented in geometry, is to use signed numbers. The red, green, and blue channel can store the x, y, and z components of the normal and range from -1 to 1. However, historically GPUs and photoediting software would not support negative ranges, so normal maps in image files are usually stored in an offset format where they have values from 0 to 1. For more information, see Normals.

Copernicus often integrates between geometry (where normals are signed) and texturing (where normals are offset), which makes it important to know for a layer what type of normal it is and be able to convert between them.

This node allows the conversion between the two normal types and updates the type info accordingly.

Parameters

Conversion

Which direction the normals should be converted.

Offset to Signed

The input normals are offset, such as those from a texture map, and need to be converted to signed normals for geometric operations.

Signed to Offset

The input normals are signed, such as those from geometry map, and need to be converted to signed normals for texture maps.

Normalize

Ensures the input normals are unit-length before applying the transformation.

Offset

The offset to use for the conversion. If the final output is 0..255, it is possible the canonical conversion is not at 0.5 precisely, so for an exact conversion something slightly off 0.5 may be required.

Scale

The scale to use for the conversion. If the output is 0..255, it is possible the canonical conversion will not be exactly 0.5 to account the choice of offset.

Inputs

normal

An RGB layer representing normals to convert.

Outputs

normal

An RGB layer of the converted normals.

See also

Copernicus nodes