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I heard the term normal data many times before in direct3d games. But I never knew what it means. I tried searching in google for results, but most of them gave vague explanations about Normal data.

From what i understand, normal data is used for lighting calculations, such as diffusion, ambient and directional. But that's pretty much all i understand..

Can someone explain to me why we use normal data? and what exactly is normal data?

Soon_to_be_code_master
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In graphics usually referring to the vector that's perpendicular to a surface: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_(geometry)

Mr. Llama
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  • And if you need to calculate yours, this might help http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1966587/given-3-pts-how-do-i-calculate-the-normal-vector – dufresnb Aug 13 '15 at 20:38
  • Thank you for those links. I just have one more question about vertex normals. So when a vertex normal is in the direction of a light source, does that mean that vertex will receive the most light? is that the reason why we use vertex normals? – Soon_to_be_code_master Aug 14 '15 at 18:11
  • @Soon_to_be_code_master - For flat shading, that's probably correct. However, there are many different types of shading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shading#Flat_shading – Mr. Llama Aug 14 '15 at 19:37