A face corner's Normal Type determines how its normal attribute will be computed. A [i]normal[/i] is a directional vector pointing outward from a point on a mesh's surface, which determines its rendering behavior in response to light. The Normal Type can be changed in the [link=inspector_face_corner]Face Corner panel[/link] for all selected face corners. The following options are available:
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[*][b]Attribute[/b]: Normals will not be automatically computed, and will use the raw attribute value as assigned in the Face Corner inspector panel.
[*][b]Face[/b]: Normals will be assigned equal to the face's overall normal vector, as detemined by cross product of its vertices, or an equivalent algorithm. This gives a uniformly flat appearance, with sharp edges between adjacent faces that meet at an angle.
[*][b]Vertex (W)[/b]: Normals will be averaged between the normal vectors of all faces referencing the same vertex, weighted by each face's area. This gives a uniformly smooth appearance, with minimal to no visible seams between adjacent faces.
[*][b]Prev. Edge (W)[/b]: Normals will be the weighted average of the face's normal and the normal of the face shared with the edge previous to this vertex, weighted by face area. When used in conjunction with Next Edge (W), this gives an appearance of an edge that is smooth in one direction and sharp in another.
[*][b]Next Edge (W)[/b]: Equivalent to Prev. Edge (W), but averaging the face normal with the face joined to the next edge rather than the previous one. Manually assigning Next Edge and Prev. Edge normal types to achieve a smooth appearance is very cumbersome, and it is recommended to use the [link=operation_assign_edge_normals]Assign Edge Normals[/link] operation instead.
[*][b]Vertex (U)[/b]: Equivalent to Vertex (W), but with equal weighting between all faces regardless of area. May give a better appearance for faces with very different area, depending on the desired effect.
[*][b]Prev. Edge (U)[/b]: Unweighted equivalent of Prev. Edge (W).
[*][b]Next Edge (U)[/b]: Unweighted equivalent of Next Edge (W).
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