Lighting and Materials

This section describes illumination in Direct3D Immediate Mode scenes, using ambient light levels, and applying lights and materials to objects in your 3-D scenes. The following topics are discussed.

• Introduction to Lighting and Materials

  Describes, in general terms, the roles of light sources and materials in a Direct3D Immediate Mode scene.

• Direct3D Light Model vs. Nature

  Describes the Direct3D illumination model in more detail, and contrasts it with the behavior of light in the natural world.

• Color Values for Lights and Materials

  Describes the RGBA color values used with both light sources and materials in Direct3D Immediate Mode.

• Direct Light vs. Ambient Light

  Compares and contrasts the roles of true light sources and ambient light levels.

• Enabling and Disabling the Lighting Engine

  Describes how to enable or disable the Direct3D lighting engine.

• Lights

  Describes lights in Direct3D and provides information on how to use them in a scene.

• Materials

  Describes materials in Direct3D Immediate Mode and provides information about how to use them in a scene.

• Mathematics of Direct3D Lighting

  Provides details about the math behind the Direct3D light model.