Texture baking can be an important step in the 3D model production pipeline, as it allows for the transfer of high-resolution surface details onto low-polygon models, so as to improve their visual quality without impacting performance. xNormal simplifies this process and empowers artists and game developers to create realistic textures for their projects.
xNormal is an old but very powerful texture baking program for Windows, developed by S.Orgaz from Spain. Although the currently popular modeling software has its own baking function, compared with xNormal's, their rendering speed and quality are still inferior quite a bit. Therefore, it remains popular with modelers and game developers, and is widely used in the fields of 3D computer graphics and game development.
As a free texture baking tool, xNormal can create high-quality and accurate DOT3 bump, cavity, displacement, ambient occlusion and other texture maps from high-polygon 3D models and map them into a low-poly one, allowing for detailed surface information to be added to low-poly models without having to increase the polygon count. These maps are crucial for adding fine details and greatly enhancing the overall visual quality of 3D assets without adding additional geometry. This means that even complex models with intricate details can be efficiently converted into low-polygon versions, reducing the overall file size without compromising on visual quality.
With xNormal, artists and designers can easily convert high-resolution models into low-resolution ones without losing important details. Its power lies in its ability to skip the complex number of faces of high-model models and perform high-quality texture baking through simple operations. Its greatest feature is its fast rendering speed, which is almost several times that of 3ds Max, Maya, and other software.
xNormal supports various input and output formats, making it compatible with a wide range of 3D modeling and rendering software. It provides a user-friendly interface, comprehensive documentation and a set of tools and options for customizing the texture baking process, making it accessible to both beginners and experienced professionals in the industry.
Overall, xNormal proves to be a versatile and indispensable tool in the process of creating realistic and visually appealing 3D assets for professionals in the computer graphics and game development industry. It offers efficiency and ease of use for a wide range of creative projects.
Key Features
- Multiple input / output format support
- Normal / displacement / occlusion / baked base texture maps fast generation
- "Floating" geometry support
- Complete C++ SDK and plugin system
- Uniform two-sided / Non-uniform (cages) ray distances / MatchUV / ray
- blockers support
- Allows UV Mirroring / Wrapping / Cylindrical coordinates
- Supports quads and triangular faces
- Easy to use
- Advanced GPGPU rendering acceleration
- Interactive 3D previewer with multi-monitor, advanced shaders, transparency,
- full-dynamic soft translucent shadows and displacement support
- Tangent and object space normal map support
- Complete documentation and practical examples
- Advanced batch rendering including isolation and masking
- Per-user serializable settings and partial UI skin customization
- Automatic and visual installer / uninstaller
- Exportation / Importation of tangent basis and models
- Film quality ( HDR IEEE754 precission, supersampling ) results
- Fast "technical service" and direct talk with developers
- Full localized application ( support for multiple languages )
- Advanced multicore / hyperthreading CPU support
Supported File Formats
| 3D file formats | Image file formats |
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Fan Made Demo Videos
System Requirements
- Microsoft Visual C++ 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015 Redistributable Packages
- DirectX End-User Runtime Offline Setup (June 2010, DXSETUP)
- Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0
- OpenRL Runtime
Download URLs
| License | Version | Download | Size |
| Freeware | Latest |  |
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