Bump mapping
computer graphics, bump mapping is a technique where at each pixel, a perturbation to the surface normal of the object being rendered is looked up in a texture map and applied before the illumination calculation is done (see, for instance, Phong shading.) The result is a richer, more detailed surface representation that more closely resembles the details inherent in the natural world.
Originally bump mapping was used in rendering programs. Later it came to be incorporated into games, most notable Doom 3.
The sphere on the right is geometrically the same as that on the left, but has a bump map applied. This changes how it reacts to shading, giving it the appearance of a bumpy texture resembling that of an orange. Note that this still picture example does not truely show the essence of bump mapping: the extra detail could have been created simply by a normal texture map. A moving object, camera, or light source is needed to fully notice the effect.
Original Publication:
Blinn, James F. "Simulation of Wrinkled Surfaces", Computer Graphics, Vol. 12 (3), pp. 286-292 SIGGRAPH-ACM (August 1978)
See also:
