normal map or height map

[René van Gageldonk]

just something I'm wondering;

Does the generated normal map contain the same information as a height map? So it could be a grayscale file? Because there's only 1 point of view of the camera, the direction of a surface is generated from an endless amount of points at a certain height, it can look like a certain angle.

Regards,

René van Gageldonk

[Testae]

Dear René 

I am afraid that the normal map does not contain information about the height and thus is not equivalent to a height map. Normal maps only show the direction to which a surface is pointing in a certain area but do not contain any information about the height/Z-direction. As you already assumed, it is not possible to record this information with the RTI setup. 

Best,

Alex