ABSTRACT
Objects are made visible by light. Our visual perception of an object is determined by the form and quality of the illumination. Lighting defines or influences color, texture, brightness, contrast, and even the mood of a scene. This chapter is an introduction to lights and shadows in 3D graphics and how lighting effects are rendered on the screen.
6.1 Lighting To a great degree the realism of a three-dimensional object is determined by its lighting. Some solid objects are virtually impossible to represent without lighting effects. For example, a billiard ball could not be convincingly rendered as a flat disk. Figure 6-1 shows the enhanced realism that results from lighting effects on a solid object.
