VFX Atlas
M 050 / 18302 Masks & Controlschematic / technique preview

Normal Map

segmentation, masks & control

Typeface · Chakra Petch

Schematic or classical approach — not a trained AI model output.
Schematic or classical approach — not a trained AI model output.Image: NASA / Eileen Collins · scikit-image (public domain)View source ↗

Prompt

Transform this image into a Normal Map effect, replacing photographic colors with a smooth RGB surface-orientation visualization. Use a lavender-blue base for forward-facing surfaces, with pink, cyan, and green shifts across differently tilted planes. Remove cast shadows and natural texture while emphasizing relief and contour changes. Keep the original subject and composition.

Paste it into LetzAI with your own image to apply the effect ↗

Identify

RGB values appear like a colorful relief.

Principle

Surface normals1 are derived from a synthetic height function2.

Try it out

Identify which edges point to the left.

Classification

Schematic visualization, not neural inference.

Further examples · 7 images

Normal map example - Map
02 Normal map example - MapA colorful RGB texture depicts geometric shapes on a light purple background. It demonstrates how vector directions are encoded as colors to represent surface curvature.Julian Herzog (Website) · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Normal map example - Result
03 Normal map example - ResultGray geometric shapes appear recessed or extruded from a flat surface. This shows the final lighting result after normal data is applied to a low-polygon mesh.Julian Herzog (Website) · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
11-Normal map and GLSL view of cube
04 11-Normal map and GLSL view of cubeA 3D software interface shows a cube beside a flat purple texture map. This exemplifies the practical application of normal mapping within a digital workspace.Pcas1986 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Solarsystemscope texture 8k earth normal map
05 Solarsystemscope texture 8k earth normal mapA map of Earth using a purple-blue base color for flat surfaces. Red, green, and blue channels represent XYZ surface orientation, creating a relief effect from height data.Solar System Scope · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Tiled brick texture
06 Tiled brick textureA tiling texture for a brick wall. The consistent lighting simulation in the RGB channels shows the synthetic relief used to fake surface detail on flat polygons.Tom Havik · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Tiled wood background
07 Tiled wood backgroundA geometric parquet pattern encoded as a normal map. The sharp color transitions at the edges of the tiles indicate changes in the simulated surface angle.Tom Havik · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons