Stretch tasks Materials, lighting and cameras

Round 1: Quiz Blitz

1. How a surface behaves with light: its colour, shine and roughness Materials decide whether something looks like metal, glass, wood or skin.
2. It adds detail without adding geometry, so it is cheap to render Textures give visible detail at almost no performance cost.
3. Unwrapping a 3D surface flat so a 2D image fits it accurately Like flattening the paper wrapping of a present, so the picture can be painted on in the right places.
4. Key light: the bright main source → Fill light: lifts the shadows on the other side → Back light: separates the subject from the background Key, fill, back. Together they make a subject look solid and stand out.
5. Sun or directional light Directional light has parallel rays, so all its shadows point the same way.
6. Point light A point light shines out evenly from a single position.
7. True Looking up at a character makes them seem big. Looking down makes them seem small.
8. Creating mood; Making shapes easy to read Lighting does far more than make things visible.
9. Softens the shadows on the side away from the key light Without a fill light, one side of the face would be in deep shadow.
10. Area light An area light shines softly from a whole surface, like a window or a lightbox.
11. False A texture is an image on the surface. That is exactly why it is cheap.
12. key light The key light is placed first and sets the look of the shot.

Round 2: Quick Fire

1. • They add visual detail, such as bricks or wood, without extra polygons
   • So the game can still run quickly
   Model answer

   Textures add visual detail, such as brickwork or wood grain, without adding any extra polygons. That keeps the scene cheap to draw, so the game still runs quickly.

2. • A key light: the bright main source
   • A fill light: softer, lifting the shadows on the other side
   • A back light: behind the subject, separating it from the background
   Model answer

   A bright key light is the main source. A softer fill light on the other side lifts the shadows. A back light behind the subject separates it from the background.

3. • The character looks small, weak or vulnerable
   • Because the viewer is looking down on them from above
   Model answer

   Looking down on a character from above makes them seem small, weak or vulnerable.

4. • A material sets how a surface behaves with light, such as how shiny or rough it is
   • A texture is an image wrapped onto the surface
   Model answer

   A material describes how a surface behaves with light: its colour, how shiny or rough it is, and whether it is metallic. A texture is an image wrapped onto the surface to add detail, such as wood grain.

Round 3: Big Think

1. • Keep it dark, with strong shadows, to build a tense mood
   • Use point or spot lights, such as a lantern or a torch beam, or cold moonlight
   • A back light can separate trees and characters from the background
   • A low or high camera angle changes how threatening things feel
   • Camera position and focal length can create a close, tense view
   Model answer

   The scene should stay mostly dark, with deep shadows to build a tense mood. Cold, dim moonlight from a sun light, plus a single spot light such as a torch beam, would pick out only a few things and leave the rest hidden. A back light behind the trees would turn them into silhouettes, separating them from the sky. A low camera angle would make the trees tower over the viewer, and a close-up through the branches would make the scene feel cramped and threatening.

2. • Its settings give the right colour and a fairly rough, non-metallic surface
   • A texture adds an image of wood grain
   • UV mapping unwraps the table flat so the image lines up
   • The grain should follow the planks without stretching
   • All of this adds detail without extra polygons
   • Lighting reveals the surface, with soft highlights
   • The mesh itself can stay simple: box shapes for the top and legs
   Model answer

   The table's mesh can stay simple, just box shapes for the top and legs. The material gives it a brown colour and a fairly rough, non-metallic surface, so it reflects only soft highlights rather than shining like plastic. A texture then wraps an image of real wood grain onto it, adding detail without any extra polygons. For that image to look right, UV mapping unwraps the table's surface flat so the picture lines up, with the grain following the direction of the planks instead of stretching round the corners. Finally, lighting reveals the surface, picking out the grain and the soft highlights.

This or That

1. Its material A material sets colour, shininess, roughness, transparency and whether it looks metallic.
2. Spot light A spot light shines a cone. An area light gives soft light from a surface.
3. Back light The back light outlines the subject. The fill light lifts the shadows.
4. Small A high angle makes a subject look small. A low angle makes it look powerful.
5. An image wrapped onto a surface A texture adds detail without adding any geometry.
6. So a flat image fits the 3D surface UV mapping unwraps the surface flat, so a 2D image lines up on it accurately.
7. Creates mood and makes shapes readable Lighting sets the mood and shows the shapes clearly.
8. Its position, angle and focal length The camera decides what the viewer sees, so moving it or changing its lens changes the feel.

Memory Match

• A 4 Material: How a surface behaves with light
• B 6 Texture: An image wrapped onto a surface
• C 5 UV mapping: Unwrapping a surface flat to apply an image
• D 3 Key light: The bright main light
• E 1 Fill light: Softens the shadows on the other side
• F 2 Back light: Separates the subject from the background