Quote - They are indeed a PoserPro feature.
I believe they are like bump maps on steroids. They give a better effect than regular bump maps, but don't change the surface shape like a displacement map.

Hi raven!

Do you have an example you could point me to showing a comparison of results with a normal map, versus an equivalent bump map? I've seen several people make the claim that normal maps are somehow more capable, but everytime I ask for a demo, I never hear a response. I don't mean "no I haven't", I mean they just don't answer.

Did you experience a situation where a normal map was better, or are you just repeating what you've heard? If the latter, repeat this:

Normal maps in Poser do not influence specular effects, rendering them nearly useless.

Normal maps in Poser cannot be scaled to create more or less of an effect, whereas bump maps can be scaled.

(EDIT) Correction: I justed tested the latest version of Poser Pro - the normal map now affects specular.

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Renderosity forum reply notifications are wonky. If I read a follow-up in a thread, but I don't myself reply, then notifications no longer happen AT ALL on that thread. So if I seem to be ignoring a question, that's why. (Updated September 23, 2019)