Wolfram: Surface Color

How Surface is Colored

In 3D graphics, how surface is colored is determined by many things.

It depends on:

• Intrinsic color of the surface. Think of it as the property of the material.
• Lighting.

Intrinsic color

Intrinsic color can be:

• Diffuse color.
• Glowing color.
• Specularity (like shiny metal).
• Transparency degree. (like glass)
• Lighting spec can also be attached to surface. (this seems odd)

Intrinsic color can also change on the surface. e.g. change by height of a function.

Global Lighting

Lighting interacts with surface color.

• Wolfram: Lighting

Types of Intrinsic Color

PlotStyle

For plotting functions, color of surface is added by using option PlotStyle.

• Wolfram: PlotStyle

ColorFunction

Add different color to different parts of surface by a function.

• Wolfram: ColorFunction

Color Spec for 3D Graphics

Opacity

• Wolfram: Opacity (Transparency)

Glow

Glow

• Make the surface glow.
• When there is no light source, glow surface still can be seen.

• Glow

ParametricPlot3D[
{Cos[u]*(2 + Cos[v]), Sin[u]*(2 + Cos[v]), Sin[v]} ,
{u, 0, 5},
{v, 0, 6},
SphericalRegion -> True,
PlotStyle -> Glow[Red],
Lighting -> None
]

💡 TIP: If you want to color a surface purely by its height or curvature or other variable, without any lighting effect,

• Set color to be glow.
• Set color to be black.
• Set specularity to be none.
• Turn global lighting off. E.g. Lighting -> None

Directive[Glow[color], Black, Specularity[0]]

Specularity

Specularity

• Make surface shiny, reflective, like a polished metal.
• Strong interaction with Lighting.

• Specularity

• NormalsFunction

ToonShading

• Wolfram: ToonShading

Material Shading

• MaterialShading