3D Art Essentials

12

LIGHT EFFECTS

Light interacts with objects in lots of ways. We take for granted how light gets bent as it travels through transparent objects, how it reflects off surfaces, how it gets scattered. To create photorealistic images, we need to simulate how light interacts with objects (Figure 12.1). Shaders are okay for opaque surfaces, but how do they deal with transparent objects or reflections? Even if you have options in the window where you build your shader, such as transparency, they are often dealt with separately. Getting light effects has a lot to do with rendering. If you understand the concepts of light effects, you’ll know a few landmarks that will help you navigate through your render options. But they are also very much a part ...