Day 10: Creating an ambient environment

The key to making an object in any 3D rendering software is lighting; much easier said than done. While there were some parts that were already done by the software for me, such as directional lighting and rudimentary shadows, the vast majority of lighting that would make the trophy look realisitic was up to me. By that, I mean speculars, reflection probes, creating the right sheen of metallic and smoothness for the gold material and using point lights as a form of backlighting. Speculars are reflections off of a plane or surface the object is standing on; that's the white reflective part we all see on metallic objects. Reflection probes created box projections within it's box limits, creating far more realisitic shadows and lighting than what I had before. Lastly, I used point lights under each of the trophy's in each of the scenes to give a sort of spotlight effect on the trophy. With the lighting and cameras out of the way, there was only major section left for me to tackle: transitioning from one scene to another.

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What are reflection probes?

A Reflection Probe is rather like a camera that captures a spherical view of its surroundings in all directions. The captured image is then stored as a Cubemap that can be used by objects with reflective materials.

What are point lights?

A point light is located at a point in space and sends light out in all directions equally. The direction of light hitting a surface is the line from the point of contact back to the center of the light object. The intensity diminishes with distance from the light, reaching zero at a specified range.

What is backlighting?

Backlight in photography involves positioning the main light source for a photograph behind the primary subject.

What is a scene?

Scenes contain the objects of your game. They can be used to create a main menu, individual levels, and anything else.

Image Source: https://learn.unity.com/tutorial/configuring-reflection-probes-2019-1