Low Resolution Hand-painted Normal Map Experiment - Sonic
Explanation:
I transformed the classic Sonic the Hedgehog sprite into a diffuse map (top) and normal map (center); for use with a modern 3D art shader to give the character dynamic lighting, instead of fixed shading and hard outlines. The bottom three images are various demos with the light moving in different manners.
Process on the diffuse was simply to pain as if fully lit for that area.
Process for the normals map was to paint as if Sonic was a solid white sculpture (grayscale) from various directions (Above, Right, Front) and use these three maps as the color channels for the normals map. A 6-direction-based painting would be more effectual (higher lighting detail); but the three directions sufficed to add significant lighting to the simple sprite.
Process on the diffuse was simply to pain as if fully lit for that area.
Process for the normals map was to paint as if Sonic was a solid white sculpture (grayscale) from various directions (Above, Right, Front) and use these three maps as the color channels for the normals map. A 6-direction-based painting would be more effectual (higher lighting detail); but the three directions sufficed to add significant lighting to the simple sprite.