Light and materials are inseparably connected; indeed, they actually determine each other: neither is visible to the human eye until the two come together. Light and materials depend on each other. Materials are fundamental to understanding light in architecture because they directly influence the quantity and quality of light. Two qualities of materials – their finish and their color – are the most important in this regard. There are many factors that influence the lighting properties and I am discussing some of them, the most important ones. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Parallel lights cheat a bit. They represent the light that comes from an infinitely distant light source. For this reason all light rays reaching the object are parallel. The standard use of parallel lights is to simulate the sun. Point lights are a step up from directional lights. They represent infinitely small points that emit light. The light spreads equally in all directions. Depending on how much effort we are willing to expend on the light, we can have a decrease in intensity based on the inverse square of the distance from the light, which is how real lights work. Spotlights are the most expensive type of light and should be avoided if possible because it is not for the real-time environment. We model a spotlight not unlike the type we would see in a theater production. They are point lights, but the light leaves the point only in a particular direction, spreading based on the aperture of the light. It is the overall color of the object due to the overall ambient light level. This is the color of the object when there is no particular light, but only general ambient lighting. That is, ambient light is an approximation of the global illumination in the environment and is not based on any light in the scene. It is usually a global value that is added to every object in a scene. It is the color of the object due to the effect of a particular light. Diffuse light is the surface light if the surface were perfectly opaque. Diffuse light is reflected in all directions by the surface and depends only on the angle of the light relative to the surface normal. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay It is the color of the lights on the surface. Specular light imitates the sheen of a surface, and its intensity is a function of the angle at which the light is reflected off the surface. Specular materials, such as glossy finishes, reflect light as a mirror does, which can cause reflected images of the light source to be visible "on" the surface. Opaque surfaces, such as natural stone, wood and plaster, reflect light diffusely and uniformly in all directions. Of the three aspects of color – hue, value and intensity – value is what determines how much light is absorbed and how much is reflected..