IBM Visualization Data Explorer User's Reference

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Shade

Category

Rendering

Function

Specifies the shading attributes of an object.

Syntax


output = Shade(input, shade, how, specular, shininess, diffuse,
               ambient);

Inputs
Name Type Default Description
input object none object to be shaded
shade flag 1 0: object not shaded
1: object shaded
how string none ("smooth" or "faceted")
specular scalar none specular coefficient
(standard = 0.5)
shininess integer none shininess exponent
(standard = 10)
diffuse scalar none diffuse coefficient
(standard = 0.7)
ambient scalar none ambient coefficient
(standard = 1.0)

Outputs
Name Type Description
output field shaded object

Functional Details

This module is applicable only to surface objects (i.e., objects with connections of type "triangle" or "quad").

input

specifies the object whose shading attributes are to be modified.

shade

turns shading on or off. By default, the module turns shading on.

how

specifies whether the shading is to be smooth or faceted. If this parameter is not set, and:

  • if the input object is already shaded, the shading method is not changed.
  • if the object is not shaded, the choice between smooth and faceted shading is determined by the dependency of the "data" component, if it has a data dependency:

    smooth shading is used for position-dependent data.

    faceted shading is used for connection-dependent data.

  • if no data are present, smooth shading is used.

An explicit specification of "smooth" or "faceted" shading will apply to all objects. However, if a "normals" component of the requested type ("dep" "positions" or "dep" "connections") is already present, the normals are not recomputed.

The next four parameters specify the particular shading attributes of the object. If any of these parameters are not explicitly set, the corresponding attributes remain unchanged.

specular

specifies the amount of light reflected by the object (as from a very smooth, highly reflective surface). The specified value must be between 0 and 1. The default is 0.5.

shininess

specifies how sharp the specular highlight is. The specified value must be an integer. Larger numbers result in a smaller, sharper, specular highlight. The default is 10.

diffuse

specifies how much light is diffused by the object (as from a rough non-reflective surface). The specified value must be between 0 and 1. The default is 1 (one).

ambient

specifies how much light is reflected equally in all directions. The specified value must be between 0 and 1.

Notes:

  1. The Shade module will also check whether the orientation of the "connections" component is consistent with the directions of the "normals". If they are not consistent, it will modify the directions of the normals.

  2. Smooth shading is not supported for faces, loops, and edges data. However, faces, loops, and edges can be converted to triangles using Refine, and can then be smooth-shaded.

Components

May add or modify the "normals" component. All other components are unchanged.

Example Visual Programs

AlternateVisualizations.net
Imide_potential.net
UsingShade.net

See Also

 Render,  Display,  Image


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