Chapter 7. Shading

In Chapter 4, we've learned how to use materials on objects. By choosing the right material, we can make a simple object appear very detailed. Shading adds several levels of shade to the materials on an object, giving a better illusion of depth and reality. There are a number of shading types built into Papervision3D that make use of shading. These types are known as shaders.

This chapter covers the following topics:

• Introduction to shading

• Basic shading and lighting

• Bumping your materials

• Reflection mapping

Introduction to shading

Shading is the process used to simulate the interaction of light with a material on a 3D object. With the presence of light, lighter and darker areas on an object can be calculated. Imagine a cube, made of one single color. When all sides use the same color, your object is barely recognizable as a cube, just like the following screenshot illustrates:

Because you were just told that it is supposed to be a cube, you can see that it is with some imagination...