# Normals A [[Normals|normal]] is a vector that is perpendicular to a surface at a given point, and represents the direction of the surface. Normals are important for shading, lighting and also the correct behaviour of operations and modifiers. ## Face Normals ## Vertex Normals Just like faces, vertices can have normals too. Vertex normals point to the direction based on the average of the surrounding face normals, using interpolation. ## Flat and Smooth Shading Normals are crucial for calculating the shading of an object. ==Flat Shading== uses face normals to determine how bright a surface should be - the more a face normal points towards a light, the brighter it will appear. ==Smooth Shading== uses vertex normals for creating a smooth shading of the object, by calculating a transition on the face between each vertex normal. This allows for a smoother transition between edges, making the object appear smooth. ## Normal Maps You can find more information on [[Normal Map|Normal Maps]] [[Normal Map|here]].