Overview  Package   Class  Tree  Deprecated  Index  Help 
 PREV CLASS   NEXT CLASS FRAMES    NO FRAMES    
SUMMARY: NESTED | FIELD | CONSTR | METHOD DETAIL: FIELD | CONSTR | METHOD

javax.media.j3d
Class Light

java.lang.Object
  |
  +--javax.media.j3d.SceneGraphObject
        |
        +--javax.media.j3d.Node
              |
              +--javax.media.j3d.Leaf
                    |
                    +--javax.media.j3d.Light
Direct Known Subclasses:
AmbientLight, DirectionalLight, PointLight
public abstract class Light
extends Leaf

The Light leaf node is an abstract class that defines a set of parameters common to all types of light. These parameters include the light color, an enable flag, and a region of influence in which this Light node is active. A Light node also contains a list of Group nodes that specifies the hierarchical scope of this Light. If the scope list is empty, the Light node has universe scope: all nodes within the region of influence are affected by this Light node. If the scope list is non-empty, only those Leaf nodes under the Group nodes in the scope list are affected by this Light node (subject to the influencing bounds).

The light in a scene may come from several light sources that can be individually defined. Some of the light in a scene may come from a specific direction, known as a directional light, from a specific position, known as a point light, or from no particular direction or source as with ambient light.

Java 3D supports an arbitrary number of lights. However, the number of lights that can be active within the region of influence is implementation-dependent and cannot be defined here.

Light Color

The Java 3D lighting model approximates the way light works in the real world. Light is defined in terms of the red, green, and blue components that combine to create the light color. The three color components represent the amount of light emitted by the source.

Each of the three colors is represented by a floating point value that ranges from 0.0 to 1.0. A combination of the three colors such as (1.0, 1.0, 1.0), representing the red, green, and blue color values respectively, creates a white light with maximum brightness. A combination such as (0.0, 0.0, 0.0) creates no light (black). Values between the minimum and maximum values of the range produce corresponding brightness and colors. For example, a combination of (0.5, 0.5, 0.5) produces a 50% grey light. A combination of (1.0, 1.0, 0.0), red and green but no blue, produces a yellow light.

If a scene has multiple lights and all lights illuminate an object, the effect of the light on the object is the sum of the lights. For example, in a scene with two lights, if the first light emits (R1, G1, B1) and the second light emits (R2, G2, B2), the components are added together giving (R1+R2, G1+G2, B1+B2). If the sums of any of the color values is greater than 1.0, brighter than the maximum brightness permitted, the color value is clamped to 1.0.

Material Colors

In the Java 3D lighting model, the light sources have an effect on the scene only when there are object surfaces to absorb or reflect the light. Java 3D approximates an object's color by calculating the percentage of red, green, and blue light the object reflects. An object with a surface color of pure green absorbs all of the red and blue light that strikes it and reflects all of the green light. Viewing the object in a white light, the green color is reflected and you see a green object. However, if the green object is viewed in a red light, all of the red light is absorbed and the object appears black.

The surface of each object in the scene has certain material properties that define how light affects its appearance. The object might reflect light in various ways, depending on the object's surface type. The object might even emit its own light. The Java 3D lighting model specifies these material properties as five independent components: emitted color, ambient color, diffuse color, specular color, and shininess. All of these properties are computed independently, then added together to define how the surface of the object appears under light (an exception is Ambient light, which does not contribute to specular reflection). The material properties are defined in the Material class.

Influencing Bounds

Since a scene may be quite large, as large as the universe for example, it is often reasonable to limit the influence of lighting to a region that is within viewing range. There is no reason to waste all that computing power on illuminating objects that are too far away to be viewed. In Java 3D, the influencing bounds is defined by a Bounds object or a BoundingLeaf object. It should be noted that a BoundingLeaf object overrides a Bounds object, should both objects be set.

A Bounds object represents a convex, closed volume. Bounds defines three different types of containing volumes: an axis-aligned-box volume, a spherical volume, and a bounding polytope. A BoundingLeaf object also specifies a region of influence, but allows an application to specify a bounding region in one coordinate system (the local coordinate system of the BoundingLeaf node) other than the local coordinate system of the node that references the bounds (the Light).

Limiting the Scope

In addition to limiting the lighting calculations to a given region of a scene, lighting can also be limited to groups of nodes, defined by a Group object. This is known as "scoping." All nodes attached to a Group node define a list of scopes. Methods in the Light class permit the setting, addition, insertion, removal, and enumeration of nodes in the list of scopes.

Two-sided Lighting of Polygons

Java 3D performs lighting calculations for all polygons, whether they are front-facing or back-facing. Since most polygon objects are constructed with the front face in mind, the back-facing portion may not be correctly illuminated. For example, a sphere with part of the face cut away so you can see its inside. You might want to have the inside surface lit as well as the outside surface and you mught also want to define a different Material description to reduce shininess, specular color, etc.

For more information, see the "Face culling" and "Back-facing normal flip" descriptions in the PolygonAttributes class description.

Turning on the Lights

Lighting needs to be explicitly enabled with the setEnable method or with the lightOn parameter in the constructor before any of the child light sources have any effect on illuminating the scene. The child lights may also be enabled or disabled individually.

If lighting is not enabled, the current color of an object in the scene is simply mapped onto the object, and none of the lighting equations regarding Material properties, such as ambient color, diffuse color, specular color, and shininess, are performed. However, an object's emitted color, if specified and enabled, will still affect that object's appearance.

To disable lighting, call setEnable with false as the argument.

See Also:
Material, Bounds, BoundingLeaf, Group, PolygonAttributes

Field Summary
static int ALLOW_COLOR_READ
          Specifies that this Light allows read access to its color information at runtime.
static int ALLOW_COLOR_WRITE
          Specifies that this Light allows write access to its color information at runtime.
static int ALLOW_INFLUENCING_BOUNDS_READ
          Specifies that this Light allows read access to its influencing bounds and bounds leaf information.
static int ALLOW_INFLUENCING_BOUNDS_WRITE
          Specifies that this Light allows write access to its influencing bounds and bounds leaf information.
static int ALLOW_SCOPE_READ
          Specifies that this Light allows read access to its scope information at runtime.
static int ALLOW_SCOPE_WRITE
          Specifies that this Light allows write access to its scope information at runtime.
static int ALLOW_STATE_READ
          Specifies that this Light allows read access to its current state information at runtime.
static int ALLOW_STATE_WRITE
          Specifies that this Light allows write access to its current state information at runtime.
 
Fields inherited from class javax.media.j3d.Node
ALLOW_AUTO_COMPUTE_BOUNDS_READ, ALLOW_AUTO_COMPUTE_BOUNDS_WRITE, ALLOW_BOUNDS_READ, ALLOW_BOUNDS_WRITE, ALLOW_COLLIDABLE_READ, ALLOW_COLLIDABLE_WRITE, ALLOW_LOCAL_TO_VWORLD_READ, ALLOW_PICKABLE_READ, ALLOW_PICKABLE_WRITE, ENABLE_COLLISION_REPORTING, ENABLE_PICK_REPORTING
 
Constructor Summary
Light()
          Constructs a Light node with default parameters.
Light(boolean lightOn, Color3f color)
          Constructs and initializes a Light node using the specified enable flag and color.
Light(Color3f color)
          Constructs and initializes a Light node using the specified color.
 
Method Summary
 void addScope(Group scope)
          Appends the specified Group node to this Light node's list of scopes.
 java.util.Enumeration getAllScopes()
          Returns an enumeration of this Light node's list of scopes.
 void getColor(Color3f color)
          Gets this Light's current color and places it in the parameter specified.
 boolean getEnable()
          Retrieves this Light's current state (on/off).
 BoundingLeaf getInfluencingBoundingLeaf()
          Retrieves the Light node's influencing bounding leaf.
 Bounds getInfluencingBounds()
          Retrieves the Light node's influencing bounds.
 Group getScope(int index)
          Retrieves the Group node at the specified index from this Light node's list of scopes.
 int indexOfScope(Group scope)
          Retrieves the index of the specified Group node in this Light node's list of scopes.
 void insertScope(Group scope, int index)
          Inserts the specified Group node into this Light node's list of scopes at the specified index.
 int numScopes()
          Returns the number of nodes in this Light node's list of scopes.
 void removeAllScopes()
          Removes all Group nodes from this Light node's list of scopes.
 void removeScope(Group scope)
          Removes the specified Group node from this Light node's list of scopes.
 void removeScope(int index)
          Removes the node at the specified index from this Light node's list of scopes.
 void setColor(Color3f color)
          Sets the Light's current color.
 void setEnable(boolean state)
          Turns the light on or off.
 void setInfluencingBoundingLeaf(BoundingLeaf region)
          Sets the Light's influencing region to the specified bounding leaf.
 void setInfluencingBounds(Bounds region)
          Sets the Light's influencing region to the specified bounds.
 void setScope(Group scope, int index)
          Replaces the node at the specified index in this Light node's list of scopes with the specified Group node.
 void updateNodeReferences(NodeReferenceTable referenceTable)
          Callback used to allow a node to check if any scene graph objects referenced by that node have been duplicated via a call to cloneTree.
 
Methods inherited from class javax.media.j3d.Node
cloneNode, cloneTree, cloneTree, cloneTree, cloneTree, cloneTree, cloneTree, duplicateNode, getBounds, getBoundsAutoCompute, getCollidable, getLocalToVworld, getLocalToVworld, getParent, getPickable, setBounds, setBoundsAutoCompute, setCollidable, setPickable
 
Methods inherited from class javax.media.j3d.SceneGraphObject
clearCapability, clearCapabilityIsFrequent, duplicateSceneGraphObject, getCapability, getCapabilityIsFrequent, getUserData, isCompiled, isLive, setCapability, setCapabilityIsFrequent, setUserData
 
Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait
 

Field Detail

ALLOW_STATE_READ

public static final int ALLOW_STATE_READ
Specifies that this Light allows read access to its current state information at runtime.

See Also:
Constant Field Values

ALLOW_STATE_WRITE

public static final int ALLOW_STATE_WRITE
Specifies that this Light allows write access to its current state information at runtime.

See Also:
Constant Field Values

ALLOW_COLOR_READ

public static final int ALLOW_COLOR_READ
Specifies that this Light allows read access to its color information at runtime.

See Also:
Constant Field Values

ALLOW_COLOR_WRITE

public static final int ALLOW_COLOR_WRITE
Specifies that this Light allows write access to its color information at runtime.

See Also:
Constant Field Values

ALLOW_INFLUENCING_BOUNDS_READ

public static final int ALLOW_INFLUENCING_BOUNDS_READ
Specifies that this Light allows read access to its influencing bounds and bounds leaf information.

See Also:
Constant Field Values

ALLOW_INFLUENCING_BOUNDS_WRITE

public static final int ALLOW_INFLUENCING_BOUNDS_WRITE
Specifies that this Light allows write access to its influencing bounds and bounds leaf information.

See Also:
Constant Field Values

ALLOW_SCOPE_READ

public static final int ALLOW_SCOPE_READ
Specifies that this Light allows read access to its scope information at runtime.

See Also:
Constant Field Values

ALLOW_SCOPE_WRITE

public static final int ALLOW_SCOPE_WRITE
Specifies that this Light allows write access to its scope information at runtime.

See Also:
Constant Field Values
Constructor Detail

Light

public Light()
Constructs a Light node with default parameters. The default values are as follows:

Light

public Light(Color3f color)
Constructs and initializes a Light node using the specified color.

Parameters:
color - the color of the light source

Light

public Light(boolean lightOn,
             Color3f color)
Constructs and initializes a Light node using the specified enable flag and color.

Parameters:
lightOn - flag indicating whether this light is on or off
color - the color of the light source
Method Detail

setEnable

public void setEnable(boolean state)
Turns the light on or off.

Parameters:
state - true or false to set light on or off
Throws:
CapabilityNotSetException - if appropriate capability is not set and this object is part of live or compiled scene graph

getEnable

public boolean getEnable()
Retrieves this Light's current state (on/off).

Returns:
this node's current state (on/off)
Throws:
CapabilityNotSetException - if appropriate capability is not set and this object is part of live or compiled scene graph

setColor

public void setColor(Color3f color)
Sets the Light's current color.

Parameters:
color - the value of this node's new color
Throws:
CapabilityNotSetException - if appropriate capability is not set and this object is part of live or compiled scene graph

getColor

public void getColor(Color3f color)
Gets this Light's current color and places it in the parameter specified.

Parameters:
color - the vector that will receive this node's color
Throws:
CapabilityNotSetException - if appropriate capability is not set and this object is part of live or compiled scene graph

setScope

public void setScope(Group scope,
                     int index)
Replaces the node at the specified index in this Light node's list of scopes with the specified Group node. By default, Light nodes are scoped only by their influencing bounds. This allows them to be further scoped by a list of nodes in the hierarchy.

Parameters:
scope - the Group node to be stored at the specified index.
index - the index of the Group node to be replaced.
Throws:
CapabilityNotSetException - if appropriate capability is not set and this object is part of live or compiled scene graph
RestrictedAccessException - if the specified group node is part of a compiled scene graph

getScope

public Group getScope(int index)
Retrieves the Group node at the specified index from this Light node's list of scopes.

Parameters:
index - the index of the Group node to be returned.
Returns:
the Group node at the specified index.
Throws:
CapabilityNotSetException - if appropriate capability is not set and this object is part of live or compiled scene graph

insertScope

public void insertScope(Group scope,
                        int index)
Inserts the specified Group node into this Light node's list of scopes at the specified index. By default, Light nodes are scoped only by their influencing bounds. This allows them to be further scoped by a list of nodes in the hierarchy.

Parameters:
scope - the Group node to be inserted at the specified index.
index - the index at which the Group node is inserted.
Throws:
CapabilityNotSetException - if appropriate capability is not set and this object is part of live or compiled scene graph
RestrictedAccessException - if the specified group node is part of a compiled scene graph

removeScope

public void removeScope(int index)
Removes the node at the specified index from this Light node's list of scopes. If this operation causes the list of scopes to become empty, then this Light will have universe scope: all nodes within the region of influence will be affected by this Light node.

Parameters:
index - the index of the Group node to be removed.
Throws:
CapabilityNotSetException - if appropriate capability is not set and this object is part of live or compiled scene graph
RestrictedAccessException - if the group node at the specified index is part of a compiled scene graph

getAllScopes

public java.util.Enumeration getAllScopes()
Returns an enumeration of this Light node's list of scopes.

Returns:
an Enumeration object containing all nodes in this Light node's list of scopes.
Throws:
CapabilityNotSetException - if appropriate capability is not set and this object is part of live or compiled scene graph

addScope

public void addScope(Group scope)
Appends the specified Group node to this Light node's list of scopes. By default, Light nodes are scoped only by their influencing bounds. This allows them to be further scoped by a list of nodes in the hierarchy.

Parameters:
scope - the Group node to be appended.
Throws:
CapabilityNotSetException - if appropriate capability is not set and this object is part of live or compiled scene graph
RestrictedAccessException - if the specified group node is part of a compiled scene graph

numScopes

public int numScopes()
Returns the number of nodes in this Light node's list of scopes. If this number is 0, then the list of scopes is empty and this Light node has universe scope: all nodes within the region of influence are affected by this Light node.

Returns:
the number of nodes in this Light node's list of scopes.
Throws:
CapabilityNotSetException - if appropriate capability is not set and this object is part of live or compiled scene graph

indexOfScope

public int indexOfScope(Group scope)
Retrieves the index of the specified Group node in this Light node's list of scopes.

Parameters:
scope - the Group node to be looked up.
Returns:
the index of the specified Group node; returns -1 if the object is not in the list.
Throws:
CapabilityNotSetException - if appropriate capability is not set and this object is part of live or compiled scene graph
Since:
Java 3D 1.3

removeScope

public void removeScope(Group scope)
Removes the specified Group node from this Light node's list of scopes. If the specified object is not in the list, the list is not modified. If this operation causes the list of scopes to become empty, then this Light will have universe scope: all nodes within the region of influence will be affected by this Light node.

Parameters:
scope - the Group node to be removed.
Throws:
CapabilityNotSetException - if appropriate capability is not set and this object is part of live or compiled scene graph
RestrictedAccessException - if the specified group node is part of a compiled scene graph
Since:
Java 3D 1.3

removeAllScopes

public void removeAllScopes()
Removes all Group nodes from this Light node's list of scopes. The Light node will then have universe scope: all nodes within the region of influence will be affected by this Light node.

Throws:
CapabilityNotSetException - if appropriate capability is not set and this object is part of live or compiled scene graph
RestrictedAccessException - if any group node in this node's list of scopes is part of a compiled scene graph
Since:
Java 3D 1.3

setInfluencingBounds

public void setInfluencingBounds(Bounds region)
Sets the Light's influencing region to the specified bounds. This is used when the influencing bounding leaf is set to null.

Parameters:
region - the bounds that contains the Light's new influencing region.
Throws:
CapabilityNotSetException - if appropriate capability is not set and this object is part of live or compiled scene graph

getInfluencingBounds

public Bounds getInfluencingBounds()
Retrieves the Light node's influencing bounds.

Returns:
this Light's influencing bounds information
Throws:
CapabilityNotSetException - if appropriate capability is not set and this object is part of live or compiled scene graph

setInfluencingBoundingLeaf

public void setInfluencingBoundingLeaf(BoundingLeaf region)
Sets the Light's influencing region to the specified bounding leaf. When set to a value other than null, this overrides the influencing bounds object.

Parameters:
region - the bounding leaf node used to specify the Light node's new influencing region.
Throws:
CapabilityNotSetException - if appropriate capability is not set and this object is part of live or compiled scene graph

getInfluencingBoundingLeaf

public BoundingLeaf getInfluencingBoundingLeaf()
Retrieves the Light node's influencing bounding leaf.

Returns:
this Light's influencing bounding leaf information
Throws:
CapabilityNotSetException - if appropriate capability is not set and this object is part of live or compiled scene graph

updateNodeReferences

public void updateNodeReferences(NodeReferenceTable referenceTable)
Callback used to allow a node to check if any scene graph objects referenced by that node have been duplicated via a call to cloneTree. This method is called by cloneTree after all nodes in the sub-graph have been duplicated. The cloned Leaf node's method will be called and the Leaf node can then look up any object references by using the getNewObjectReference method found in the NodeReferenceTable object. If a match is found, a reference to the corresponding object in the newly cloned sub-graph is returned. If no corresponding reference is found, either a DanglingReferenceException is thrown or a reference to the original object is returned depending on the value of the allowDanglingReferences parameter passed in the cloneTree call.

NOTE: Applications should not call this method directly. It should only be called by the cloneTree method.

Overrides:
updateNodeReferences in class SceneGraphObject
Parameters:
referenceTable - a NodeReferenceTableObject that contains the getNewObjectReference method needed to search for new object instances.
See Also:
NodeReferenceTable, Node.cloneTree(), DanglingReferenceException
Overview  Package   Class  Tree  Deprecated  Index  Help 
 PREV CLASS   NEXT CLASS FRAMES    NO FRAMES    
SUMMARY: NESTED | FIELD | CONSTR | METHOD DETAIL: FIELD | CONSTR | METHOD