Diffuse + reflection = 100%??

[SirLuthor]

It seems to me that you should use whatever is best for the situation you are in. If the "rules" work, fine, they work. and you should use them, but if they don't work, then don't be afraid to shelve them and finish it your own way. As long as it works, it doesn't matter how you got there :)

[EricChadwick]

Yeah, real-world lighting rules don't apply directly to 3d rendering, since it is all an elaborate system of fakery.

I found it helps to blur the reflection when you have something like paving stones, and only use a very small reflection %, like maybe 5%. Blurring the reflection simulates the fine bumpiness that semi-polished stone has, which basically scatters the reflected photons.

[soulburn3d]

The law of conservation of energy is that diffuse + specular = 100%. As for how much of each, that's totally dependent on your material. A totally matte object could potentially be 100% diffuse, and a mirror is almost 100% specular, so I'm not sure I can agree with that rule you mentionned.

In general, the more specular something is, the less diffuse should be present, hence it should be darker, which you could do by hand, or some shaders have it setup where the more spec the object has, it automatically compensates the diffuse down (and vice versa). Also, since cg is all a trick anyways, feel free to violate this rule when you need to, but keep the rule in mind since it's a good guideline before you season to taste.

- Neil

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