diff --git a/shaders/mesh.vert b/shaders/mesh.vert
index 0d8afe3..fee5ffa 100644
--- a/shaders/mesh.vert
+++ b/shaders/mesh.vert
@@ -37,15 +37,19 @@ void main()
 {
     Vertex v = PushConstants.vertexBuffer.vertices[gl_VertexIndex];
 
-    vec4 worldPos = PushConstants.render_matrix * vec4(v.position, 1.0f);
+    mat3 M = mat3(PushConstants.render_matrix);
+    mat3 normalMatrix = transpose(inverse(M));
+
+    vec4 worldPos = PushConstants.render_matrix * vec4(v.position, 1.0);
     gl_Position = sceneData.viewproj * worldPos;
 
-    outNormal = (PushConstants.render_matrix * vec4(v.normal, 0.f)).xyz;
-    vec3 worldTangent = (PushConstants.render_matrix * vec4(v.tangent.xyz, 0.f)).xyz;
-    outTangent = vec4(normalize(worldTangent), v.tangent.w);
-    // Pass pure vertex color; apply baseColorFactor only in fragment
+    outNormal = normalize(normalMatrix * v.normal);
+
+    vec3 worldTangent = normalize(normalMatrix * v.tangent.xyz);
+    outTangent = vec4(worldTangent, v.tangent.w);
+
     outColor = v.color.xyz;
-    outUV.x = v.uv_x;
-    outUV.y = v.uv_y;
+    outUV    = vec2(v.uv_x, v.uv_y);
     outWorldPos = worldPos.xyz;
 }
+
diff --git a/src/scene/vk_loader.cpp b/src/scene/vk_loader.cpp
index 92fdbbe..df642be 100644
--- a/src/scene/vk_loader.cpp
+++ b/src/scene/vk_loader.cpp
@@ -612,8 +612,24 @@ std::optional<std::shared_ptr<LoadedGLTF> > loadGltf(VulkanEngine *engine, std::
                                                               });
             }
 
-            // Generate tangents if missing and we have UVs
-            if (!hasTangents)
+            // Generate tangents only when needed for normal mapping.
+            // If the bound material has no normal map, we can skip TBN generation.
+            bool materialHasNormalMap = false;
+            if (p.materialIndex.has_value())
+            {
+                size_t matIndex = p.materialIndex.value();
+                if (matIndex < gltf.materials.size())
+                {
+                    materialHasNormalMap = gltf.materials[matIndex].normalTexture.has_value();
+                }
+            }
+            else if (!gltf.materials.empty())
+            {
+                // Primitives without an explicit material fall back to material 0.
+                materialHasNormalMap = gltf.materials[0].normalTexture.has_value();
+            }
+
+            if (!hasTangents && materialHasNormalMap)
             {
                 size_t primIndexStart = newSurface.startIndex;
                 size_t primIndexCount = newSurface.count;
diff --git a/texture_compression.py b/texture_compression.py
index c871329..1829489 100644
--- a/texture_compression.py
+++ b/texture_compression.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ except Exception:
 
 DEFAULT_SUFFIX = {
     "albedo":    ["_albedo", "_basecolor", "_base_colour", "_base_color", "_base", "baseColor", "BaseColor"],
-    "mr":        ["_mr", "_orm", "_metalrough", "_metallicroughness", "metallicRoughness", "Metallic"],
+    "mr":        ["_mr", "_orm", "_metalrough", "_metallicroughness", "metallicRoughness", "Metallic", "Metalness"],
     "normal":    ["_normal", "_norm", "_nrm", "_normalgl", "Normal"],
     "occlusion": ["_occlusion", "_occ", "_ao"],
     "emissive":  ["_emissive", "_emission", "_emit"],