From my understanding, a normal map makes the existing normals on a mesh to change the direction they point in, to fake the illusion of grooves/depth/scratches,etc. So the more polygons you have = more normals = the better the effect from the normal map
A bump map from my understanding takes the normals on a mesh and scale them, unlike normal maps which can only change the direction the normals point in
Yet I noted that when I did the below to create a procedural bump map,
A bumpy effect is created. How is this possible? There is only one normal on this plane so how do I get a bumpy effect all throughout the plane? (I also noted that after removing the bump map node from Principled BSDF, the normal of the plane flipped directions
And when I tried the below to create a procedural normal map,
Sure, no longer is there a bump effect, but a pattern-like color effect is present somehow
My question is, how is that in both these cases, bump and normal maps, maps that only affect the scale/direction of your normal, create a drastic bumpy effect/pattern-color effect on a mesh with only one single normal?