Dynamic management of daylight and artificial light
VWorldTerrain includes a dynamic light management system. It applies to both natural and artificial light.
1 - Natural light:
There are two sources of natural light: The Sun and the Moon.
Each source of light can be defined by its direction, colour and intensity, which vary according to time of day.
For the Sun and the Moon, light intensity also varies according to weather conditions. The intensity of light coming from the Moon will also depend on
the relative position of the Moon towards the Sun (moon calendar). Light will be more or less diffuse when the user is underwater, depending on how
deep he dives.
Light also varies according to LandCover. To render landscapes, VWorldTerrain picks up among a set of materials, each of these having their own separate
characteristics, notably an index of refraction to light and a light reflection index. For instance, a rock face and a grassland area will be lit totally
differently.
That principle also applies to all the objects in the scene (architectural elements, ALFs, etc)
2 - Artificial light:
VWorldTerrain allows the management of several artificial light sources, night and day. Each light has its own characteristics,
such as colour, shape, intensity, type (spotlight, omni, etc) and radiosity.
Calculations to define scene illumination are made per texel, not per vertex, which provides better precision and more natural rendering.
The impact of light on the ground is therefore particularly realistic.
Each light is of course dynamic: it can move and vary according to scaleable parameters in real-time.
