In a nutshell, these systems emulate how light works in a virtual world much like it works in the real world: it calculates how light falls directly on objects and how they are reflected back from one surface to another. This is because of the huge amount of calculations necessary which will tax the capabilities of most graphic cards to their maximum potential and with most graphic cards, is not a workable solution as performance will be hugely negatively impacted.įor computers to generate photo-real imagery, the best systems use a method known as ray tracing. Basic lighting systems in 3D programs do not generally factor in the effect of ambient light sources. In the real world, objects, including ourselves, are illuminated by direct light sources as well as reflected and ambient light sources. If you look at your arm for a moment, you will see the exact same type of light play at work with one major exception: the default lighting engine used by MMD does not factor in ambient lighting.

This is good as this is how real light works on objects in real life. The skin tones especially are not one homogeneous color but works on a scale of light and dark tones.

Look very closely at how the light works on the Kanon model. Bear in mind that the render only uses the default lighting set up. It is key in fully understanding and mastering the MMD lighting system. Pay close attention to what is happening in this image. So let us look at Kanon, our model for this article, posed and rendered using just the default lighting system. If you understand these two key concepts, you will be able to render almost any scene under any type of lighting conditions. Ray-MMD: The Art of painting with Lightīut, before we even get to the fine details, the most important thing is to understand how the default lighting effect works and what happens when Ray-MMD is added. If your objective is to create photo-real images using MMD, this is of paramount importance, especially when used in conjunction with effects like Ray-MMD. MMD by default uses a neutral grey light which emulates the photographic standard of mid-day sunlight in a temperate climate. Natural sunlight as interpreted by MMD is not white light.

Raycast mmd 2019