Computer Graphics

Lecture 26
Mathematics of Lighting and
Shading
Part II

Taqdees A. Siddiqi
[email protected]
Light Types and Shading Models
Light Types
Now that we have a way to find the light hitting a
surface, we're going to need some lights!
There are three types of lights we are going to discuss
1) Parallel Lights (or Directional Lights)
2) Point Lights
3) Spotlights
Parallel Lights (or
Directional Lights)
They represent light that comes from an infinitely far
away light source.
All of the light rays that reach the object are parallel
(hence the name).
The standard use of parallel lights is to simulate the
sun.
While it's not infinitely far away, 93 million miles is
good enough!
The incoming light vector for calculation of the diffuse
reflection factor is the same for all considered points,
whereas point lights and spotlights involve vector
subtractions and a normalization per vertex.
Parallel light sources are the easiest and therefore
fastest to process.
Point Lights
One step better than directional lights are point lights.
They represent infinitesimally small points that emit
light.
Light scatters out equally in all directions.
we can have the intensity falloff based on the inverse
squared distance from the light, which is how real
lights work.
The light direction is different for each surface location
(otherwise the point light would look just like a
directional light). The equation for it is:
Figure 1: Point light sources
Spotlights
Spotlights are the most expensive type of light.
It is normally avoided to use because it is not for real
time environment.
Spotlight is the type type we would see in a theatrical
production.
They are point lights, but light only leaves the point in a
particular direction, spreading out based on the
aperture of the light.
Spotlights have two angles associated with them.
One is the internal cone whose angle is generally
referred to as theta (θ).
Points within the internal cone receive all of the light of
the spotlight; the attenuation is the same as it would
be if point lights were used.
There is also an angle that defines the outer cone; the
angle is referred to as phi.
Points outside the outer cone receive no light.
Points outside the inner cone but inside the outer cone
receive light,
Figure 2: A spotlight
OpenGL and DirectX Implements the lighting math
behind the scene
Lighting is extremely expensive and can slow down
our graphics application a great deal.
 So we will have to figure out a line between
performance and aesthetics.
Shading Models
Once we've found basic lighting information, we need to
know how to draw the triangles with the supplied
information. There are currently three ways to do this;
1) Lambertian Shading
2) Gouraud Shading
3) Phong Shading
Lambertian Shading
Triangles that use Lambertian shading are painted with
one solid color instead of using a gradient.
Typically each triangle is lit using that triangle's normal.
The resulting object looks very angular and sharp.
Lambertian shading was used mostly back when
computers weren't fast enough to do Gouraud
shading in real time.
To light a triangle, you compute the lighting equations
using the triangle's normal and any of the three
vertices of the triangle.
Figure 3: Flat shaded view of our polygon
mesh
Gouraud Shading
Gouraud (pronounced garrow) shading is the current de
facto shading standard in accelerated 3D hardware.
Instead of specifying one color to use for the entire
triangle, each vertex has its own separate color.
The color values are linearly interpolated across the
triangle, creating a smooth transition between the
vertex color values.
To calculate the lighting for a vertex, we use the position
of the vertex and a vertex normal.
Figure 4: Gouraud shaded view of our
polygon mesh
One problem with Gouraud shading is that the triangles'
intensities can never be greater than the intensities at
the edges.
So if there is a spotlight shining directly into the center
of a large triangle, Gouraud shading will interpolate
the intensities at the three dark corners, resulting in
an incorrectly dark triangle.
Phong Shading
Phong shading is the most realistic shading model We
are going to talk about, and also the most
computationally expensive.
It tries to solve several problems that arise when we use
Gouraud shading.
First of all, Gouraud shading uses a linear gradient.
Many objects in real life have sharp highlights, such as
the shiny spot on an apple.
The Phong does by interpolating the normal across the
triangle face, not the color value, and the lighting
equation is solved individually for each pixel.
Figure 5: Phong shaded view of a polygon mesh
Phong Shading is not technically supported in hardware
but we can program and many other special effects,
using shaders, a hot new technology.
Computer Graphics
Lecture 26