   Bump vs. Normal vs. Parralax vs. ??
  Hello, I have a question regarding the different types of bump mapping.I think I understand that bump mapping uses a height map to add depth to an object.Normal maps use normal maps to add depth to an object, as well as specular highlights.What does parralax mapping add to an object? What other affects are similar to these three?  Relief mapping, offset mapping, there are so many, what are the most common ones and how do I keep up with them all?Thanks, I appreciate any help given.   
Bump MappingNormal MappingParallax MappingI admit I'm just a beginner, but those are three articles I've read and have taught me a lot on those three techniques.   ;  Thanks Mike, that helps clear things out a lot. I'll post my findings here so users can use it to differentiate between all the techniques.Parallax Mapping (also, Photonic Mapping, Offset Mapping or Virtual Displacement Mapping) Is an enhancement of the bump mapping or normal mapping techniques applied to textures in 3D rendering applications such as video games. This means that textures (such as wooden floorboards) will have more apparent depth and realism with less of an influence on the speed of the game.Bump MappingIs a computer graphics technique where at each pixel, a perturbation to the surface normal of the object being rendered is looked up in a texture map and applied before the illumination calculation is done.Normal Mapping (Also known as Dot3 Bump mapping)Same as Bump mapping except it uses the normalsDisplacement mapping Is an alternative technique in contrast to bump mapping, normal mapping, and parallax mapping where the actual geometric position of points over the textured surface are displaced along the surface normal according to the values stored into the texture.Cube MappingIn computer graphics, cube mapping is a technique that takes a three dimensional texture coordinate and returns a texel from a given cube map (very similar to a skybox's texture's format). This texture coordinate is a vector that specifies which way to look from the center of the cube mapped cube to get the desired texel.From Game Dev Dictionary:An alternative to sphere mapping used in environment mapping, cube mapping gets a 'screenshot' looking in 6 different directions and arranges them in a rolled out cube. When applied, the object appears to reflect the environment around it. A 'cheap' alternative to raytracing reflections, cube mapping is fast enough for realtime. Sphere MappingVery similar to Cube MappingReflection Mapping(Similar to Cube Mapping)In Computer Graphics, reflection mapping is an efficient method of simulating a complex mirroring surface by mean of a precomputed texture image. Environmental MappingSame as Cube MappingSources:Wikipedia.comGameDev.netFeel free to add onto this collection.  It'd be really nice to have everything in one place.:)   