Normal

Since Normal textures use colors, the surface Normals can be oriented in specific directions. Closely related to the bump effect, shading variations can be implemented even more precisely using Normals. Nevertheless, this effect can only be used to modify the shading. The object’s shape remains unaffected.

As with the bump effect, the Normal channel can be used to manipulate the surface shading to simulate tiny details. The Normal channel, however, does not use color information to define the effect. This makes it possible to precisely orient the Normals in the X, Y or Z directions. The effect can deliver even more precise results while not affecting the object’s geometry.

Value

Here you can link a Normal texture or a corresponding Material Node.

Strength [-∞00..+∞00%]

This is the intensity of the Normal effect. Negative values will invert the effect. Note that the Normal effect will not modify the object’s shape when generating the shading effect. If the effect is made too strong it will look unnatural.

Presets
Flip X
Flip Y
Flip Z
Swap Y and Z
Space

The remaining settings reflect those of the material’s Normal Mode when set to Normal Map in its Diffuse channel (see here).