A Beginner’s Introduction to Texture Mapping in 3D

Height Maps vs Bump Maps vs Displacement Maps vs Normal Maps vs…?

This is written specifically to 3D rendering in Blender but the information should essentially transfer to other softwares and 3D rendering in general. I have been learning Blender for about two months and found the information about texture mapping to be confusing. I am writing this from my understanding and more experienced users are welcomed to chip in!

What is texture mapping?

In essence, texture mapping is wrapping a 2D image on an 3D object, such that the information of the 2D image is mapped onto the surface of the 3D object, informing the computer to generate the data on the object during rendering. This information can be colour, brightness, smoothness, height, and more. The 2D image is what we know as the texture map.

It is kind of like a hack, a shortcut method, for us to recreate realistic textures on our objects with the help of references from real life, instead of having to model and sculpt the details, and adjusting the colours, smoothness, and other settings in order to produce a realistic looking object.

<insert another example of texture mapping or maybe mesh of highly detailed object>