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Old 03-26-2001, 05:04 AM   #12
Jim Sachs
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Join Date: Dec 2000

Location: Southern Oregon
Posts: 9,816
Re: Aquarium "Tweaking" Trick

In order to use real-time lighting effects, each polygon or vertex must have a surface normal, which is like an arrow pointing straight out, perpedicular to the surface. These are used for shading, reflections and speculars (shine).

When a fish mesh bends, its vertex normals no longer point straight out from the surface, so I recaculate each vector. Though technically correct, the differences in shading are so slight that most people don't notice them, so the calculations are now turned off by default.
Jim Sachs
Creator of SereneScreen Aquarium
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