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graphicsshadershading

Phong shading model


Why is the outgoing radiance equal to 0 when the angle between n and l is <= 0?

enter image description here

This is from the book Real-Time Rendering.


Solution

  • I thought this was a very interesting question and I couldn't explain it myself. So I emailed the authors of Real-Time Rendering and one of the said that it's most likely a mistake. It really should be cos(theta_i) <= 0 gives L(v) = 0. This means that at 90 degree angle or light projected behind the object, there is no contribution to the final value.