Pitney Bowes MapInfo Vertical Mapper - Manual (Page 196)

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Vertical Mapper 3.7
The Surface and Lighting Tab
The Surface and Lighting tab contains settings that affect the visual characteristics of the rendered
scene. Properties in this dialog box will affect all the grids listed in the Grid Layer Control.
The Lighting section enables you to choose lighting settings implemented in a GridView scene.
Each type of lighting is generated from a different source and each is user-controlled. Some light
comes from a particular direction or position, and some light is scattered about the scene.
• Specular refers to light coming from a particular direction and tends to bounce off the surface in
a preferred direction. A shiny surface such as metal has a high specular component, while a
surface such as a carpet has almost none. Increasing the percentage of specular light results in
strong shadow effects and more pronounced glare spots.
• Diffuse refers to light coming from a particular direction and is brighter if aimed directly down on
a surface. When diffuse light hits the surface, however, it is scattered uniformly in all directions,
so it appears equally bright no matter where the eye is located. Increasing diffuse light will
intensify shadow effects.
•
Ambient refers to light coming from a source that has been scattered so evenly by the
environment that its direction is impossible to determine. Increasing the ambient light will
brighten the scene without casting shadows.
• Azimuth is the angle in the x-, y- plane at which specular or diffuse light from the source
position shines onto the grid. A value of 180 degrees indicates that the light is shining directly
north in terms of the coordinate system of the grid file (i.e., directly along the x-axis of the
coordinate system). This Azimuth setting operates in the same way as the viewing Azimuth
setting illustrated in the next figure on the left.
• Inclination is the angle at which the light shines down from the source position towards the
midpoint of the surface, measured from the horizontal plane.
The Modeling section enables you to specify two ways of representing the rendered surface: Solid
and Wireframe.
• Solid renders the scene with a continuous colour (see figure below on the left).
• Wireframe renders the scene with a wireframe mesh (see figure below on the right).