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Orchid XP v8 wrote:
>
> Wait - I just said "are they just reflections of the light source".
>
> So are they or aren't they?
>
They are, sort of. In the real world, highlights would be caused by very
fine irregularities on the surface. which will invariably reflect some
of the light from the light source to your eye. What you see, then is a
diffused reflection of the object's surroundings. Some of which may
actually be a light source.
Highlights as POV-Ray defines them is a sort of short cut. Depending on
rougness, or highlight size, depends on the angles at which the
highlight can be seen. It's a mathematical shortcut to simulate a
(slightly) rough surface without needing to use such things as
micronormals, or shooting thousands of rays from each point of the
surface. Instead they use a simple formula to get what they need.
--
~Mike
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