Set Mesh Normal Node

The Set Mesh Normal node stores a normal vector for each mesh element.

This can be used to control shading appearance and influence subsequent operations that rely on surface normals.

Inputs

Mesh

Standard geometry input.

Remove Custom Sharpness mode

If enabled, removes any existing custom normals or sharpness data.

Edge Sharpness Sharpness mode

Boolean field that defines whether an edge is marked sharp. True values result in sharp edges; false values result in smooth shading.

Face Sharpness Sharpness mode

Boolean field that defines whether a face is marked flat. True values result in flat-shaded faces; false values result in smooth shading.

Custom Normal Free mode, Tangent Space mode

The vector to store as the custom normal.

Properties

Mode

Storage mode for custom normal data:

Sharpness:

Store the sharpness of each face or edge. Similar to the “Shade Smooth” and “Shade Flat” operators.

Free:

Store custom normals as simple vectors in the local space of the mesh. This is efficient and fast to evaluate but does not support deformation.

Tangent Space:

Store normals in a deformation dependent custom transformation space. This method is slower, but can be better when subsequent operations change the mesh without handling normals specifically.

Domain Free mode

Attribute domain to store free custom normals.

Point:

Store normals per vertex.

Face:

Store normals per face.

Face Corner:

Store normals per face corner, this domain is necessary to bake existing mixed sharp and smooth edges into the custom normal vectors.

Outputs

Mesh

Standard geometry output.