Uploaded April 2020 | Updated September 2026, 5 days ago

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Hey all,

I've been a bit on the fence with editing normals for characters and I think the reason has to do with stylistic differences. Here is a side-by-side of a test I got to do yesterday. Drastically simplifying the normals for stereo-typical anime is an absolute must. For more realistic style characters like I tend to make, it's optional.
When it comes to clothing, across the board, I'd recommend leaving normals alone unless you want a special effect.

The method I used here was to simply use a cylinder and to shape it similarly to the face - like an egg with a dent, lol. I used the Normal Edit modifier to change the normals to a factor of 1, max angle of 45'. I haven't done an animation or real world test with this, but I have to concede - the normals HAVE TO be edited for typical anime faces for a good result on dynamic use models (ie, where lighting has to be flexible).

I hope to do a video on normals in the future, because it's useful for more than just faces.

Have a great one! Stay home, stay safe!

Model: Abby-Chan by Ruki @rukikuri, CC-BY-NC
gumroad.com/l/zcZsZ