Systems, methods and program storage devices are disclosed, which comprise instructions to cause one or more processing units to dynamically generate refined normal maps for 2D texture maps, e.g., supplied by a programmer or artist. Generally speaking, there are two pertinent properties to keep in balance when generating normal vectors comprising a normal map: “smoothness” and “bumpiness.” The smoothness of the normal vectors is influenced by how many neighboring pixels are involved in the “smoothening” calculation. Incorporating the influence of a greater number of neighboring pixels' values reduces the overall bumpiness of the normal map, as each pixel's value takes weight from those neighboring pixels. Thus, the techniques described herein iteratively: downsample height maps; generate normal maps; scale the normal maps to maintain bumpiness; and blend the generated scaled normal maps with generated normal maps from previous iterations—until the smoothness of the resultant normal map has reached desired levels.