by Nodes and noodles·Rendering
Images © Nodes and noodles. Used for product review; image policy.
Super Bump earns its place in the Superhive library for bringing a displacement-style effect to Eevee using a hundred vertices instead of tens of thousands, with a one-click Manager to handle setup.
Super Bump adds depth in Eevee through tightly packed alpha-clipped layers that reinforce Normal and Bump map effects without the super-dense geometry associated with displacement. Real shadows from the engine's lighting system complete the effect, and the approach can give results comparable to Cycles material displacement or a Displace Modifier while using a hundred vertices instead of tens of thousands. It also brings material displacement to Eevee in Blender versions prior to 4.
The Super Bump Manager sets everything up with a single click. As part of adding Super Bump to an object, the Manager creates a PBR material from the textures you select. It identifies the type of PBR textures by checking their names for certain keywords, such as Albedo, Metallic, Roughness, Emission, Height and Normal. You can edit or expand these keywords through Edit Keywords in the addon's preferences panel.
Super Bump is not intended for Cycles, since the transparent layers require high light bounce settings and long render times. For best results, enable Contact Shadows for lights in the scene. The download includes several sets of PBR textures provided by PolyHaven.com.
Super Bump is best for blender artists working in Eevee who want material displacement effects without heavy geometry, including on versions prior to Blender 4.
Super Bump is completely free to download and use.
Super Bump lists compatibility with Blender versions 3.6 through 4.5 and is available as an add-on. It is notable for bringing material displacement to Eevee in Blender versions prior to 4, where this kind of effect was otherwise associated with dense displacement geometry. It is confirmed compatible as a Blender Extension and uses the Eevee render engine. For the latest details on supported versions, check the developer's page before installing.
Super Bump is not intended for use with Cycles. Its transparent layers require high light bounce settings, which makes render times very long in that engine. The add-on is built around the Eevee real-time engine instead. For best results with Super Bump, enable Contact Shadows for the lights in your scene. If your workflow relies on Cycles, Super Bump would not be the right fit for that render engine.
Super Bump is not recommended for Mac Pro users. When running on a Mac Pro, transparency processing in Blender is very slow, and because Super Bump relies on transparent alpha-clipped layers, this significantly affects performance. If you are working on other hardware, this limitation does not apply. Users on a Mac Pro should weigh this before installing, and can review further details and requirements on the developer's page.
Super Bump uses the Super Bump Manager to set everything up with a single click. As part of adding Super Bump to your object, the Manager creates a PBR material from the textures you select. It identifies the type of each PBR texture by checking the file names for certain keywords, such as Albedo, Metallic, Roughness, Emission, Height and Normal. You can edit or expand these keywords by clicking Edit Keywords in the addon's preferences panel.
Super Bump is listed as free here in this catalog. It is distributed under the GPL license and comes with several sets of PBR textures provided by PolyHaven.com as part of the download. Licensing terms and any current pricing can change, so check the developer's page for the most up-to-date information before downloading. A demo video is also available for those who want to see more before installing.
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