10.10 - Combining Light and Surface Properties

Wow! We have covered a lot of techniques related to surface properties. And we have only touched the surface of what is possible! (Pun intended!)

To end our discussion of surface properties we need to combine them with lighting calculations. In general a fragment shader will:

Each of these steps can be simple or complex. Each step can involve a single method or combinations of methods. There is no limit on what your creative mind might come up with! For example, to create a color for a fragment you could combine a color attribute of the triangle with a color from an image texture map and some percentage of another color, where the percentage is calculated using a procedural texture map. To combine these colors you could pick from an infinite number of possible percentages, such as 1/3, 1/3, 1/3, or 1/2, 1/4, 1/4, or 3/4, 3/16, 1/16. You get the idea. In fact, almost all special effects are created by combining colors from multiple sources. And beyond the color selection, the lighting calculations can be complex, especially if there are multiple light sources of different types.

This lesson presents a very simple example of surface property and light reflection interaction. Hopefully you will be able to extrapolate the example into an infinite number of possibilities.

Experimentation Program

The following WebGL program creates two different shader programs, one to render the cubes in the scene, and another to render the block letters. Both shader programs use the same vertex shader but different fragment shaders. Let’s review the specifics of each shader before you experiment with the WebGL program.

The fragment shader that renders the cubes, shader38.frag, does the following:

  • Calculates a percentage value using a procedural texture map. (See the function my_texture.)
  • Using the percentage, calculates a gradient color using the model’s surface color and white.
  • Normalizes the surface normal because it is being interpolated across the surface.
  • Performs lighting calculations on the color.
  • Outputs the color to gl_FragColor

The fragment shader that renders the letters, shader39.frag, does the following:

  • Gets a color from an image texture map (water.png).
  • Creates a color that is half the texture map’s color and half the face’s color.
  • Normalizes the surface normal because it is being interpolated across the surface.
  • Performs lighting calculations on the color.
  • Outputs the color to gl_FragColor

Specifically notice the following in the surface_and_light_render.js code below:

  • In lines 383-384 the two shader programs are created: cube_program and text_program.
  • In lines 393-396 the models for the cubes are created using the cube_program shader.
  • In lines 398-400 the models for the letters are created using the text_program shader.
  • When the scene is rendered in the right canvas:
    • In line 238 the gl2.useProgram() function is used to make the cube_program active. This allows all the cubes to be rendered using a procedural texture map (lines 255-258).
    • In line 262 the gl2.useProgram() function is used to make the text_program active. This allows all the letters to be rendered using an image texture map (lines 255-258).
  • The lighting data has to be passed into the shaders twice, once for each shader program. This is done in lines 244-249 for the cube_program shader and in lines 265-270 for the text_program shader.

Please experiment with the WebGL program below and study the code.

Show: Code Canvas Run Info
./surface_and_light/surface_and_light.html

Manipulate the properties of a light source and a camera for objects rendered with various surface properties.

The left canvas shows the relative location of the light source, the camera, and an object.
The right canvas shows the scene from the camera's vantage point.
Please use a browser that supports "canvas" Please use a browser that supports "canvas"
Manipulate the camera: Ambient light: Light properties:
eye (0.0, 0.0, 5.0) ambient percentages (0.2, 0.2, 0.2) light location (3.0, 3.0, 3.0)
X: -5.0 +5.0 Red   : 0.0 1.0 X: -5.0 +5.0
Y: -5.0 +5.0 Green: 0.0 1.0 Y: -5.0 +5.0
Z: -5.0 +5.0 Blue  : 0.0 1.0 Z: -5.0 +5.0
center (0.0, 0.0, 0.0) ambient percentage = 0.2
0.0 1.0
light color = (1.0, 1.0, 1.0)
X: -5.0 +5.0 Red: 0.0 1.0
Y: -5.0 +5.0 Green: 0.0 1.0
Z: -5.0 +5.0 Blue: 0.0 1.0
shininess = 30.0
0.1 128.0

Shader errors, Shader warnings, Javascript info
Open this webgl program in a new tab or window

Summary

The final appearance of a rendered object is an interaction of a face’s surface properties and lighting calculations. With special care you can develop vertex shaders and fragment shaders that produce photo-realistic renderings and amazing visual effects.

Next Section - WebGL References