update tangent space, NiBinaryExtraData

[thePhilanthropy]

I don't know whether this has been asked or answered anywhere. If so, pardon me.

But what exactly does it do?

I read that it somehow helps with normal map rendering and that it is something Oblivion-specific. But google doesn't help, and the NifTools Wiki is pretty unspecific on the topic.

 

Any clues what it does or how it affects the engine?

[thePhilanthropy]

bump

[Nexus Set]

It just provides normal data at each vertex of the mesh.

 

face normals+vertex normals=more normal data, better render output.

 

See sample. :)

http://i36.tinypic.com/34hyzjq.png

 

The normals are those little itchy looking spikes on the vertices.

[thePhilanthropy]

yeah, I knew that. I was rather interested in how it does that. I mean, why would Oblivion render it differently than without normal data?

The thing is just that for some meshes, it produces some render anomalies. But that might have something to do with the those meshes being faulty (?).

 

Well, thanks for the answer anyway ;)

[Nexus Set]

... I mean, why would Oblivion render it differently than without normal data?...

 

The mesh faces always generate their own normals, it's just that normals are also added to the vertices, giving it a higher normal definition.

The way I see it, they are calculated automatically from the normals of the immediate attached faces.

You're probably right about meshes with faulty normals to begin with that end up messy after updating tangent data. Try doing the face normals command first, then update tangent space to see if that improves things.

 

You've probably found this already, but here's the CS Wiki article on tangent space.

[thePhilanthropy]

makes sense. Kudos!