I am using DirectX and I have a problem in setting up my lighting. I render two arrays of vertices with PositionColor and Texture and the second one a set of points (point cloud). Meanwhile I set up a couple of directional lights and I set material for the PositionColor and Texture vertices. However the pointcloud as opposed to PositionColor and Texture vertices get colored and still the PositionColor and Texture vertices appear in black. I have checked all the normals and I am sure they have values. Does anyone know how I can fix this issue? Thanks

There can be a number of problems without seeing a screenshot or some code.

Which way is the directional light facing and which way is your primitive facing?

<-------
| <-------
| <-------
| <------- (Directional light that should be facing the primitive)
| <-------
| <-------
<-------

Also, make sure that you have assigned the materials.

I hope this helps!

[Edited by - Armadon on January 21, 2009 9:06:00 AM]

Thanks for both of the replies. I also added an ambient light, but again only the PositionColor vertices ( D3DFVF_XYZ|D3DFVF_DIFFUSE) get the light. The problem is I am rendering these vertices as a PointList and I am not for sure if it makes sense for me to define separate materials for each.

However the PositionNormal Vertices ( D3DFVF_XYZ|D3DFVF_NORMAL) are still rendered in black though there is a good ambient light in the scene.

How can I set the material to only get applied to the PositionNormal vertices and not to affect the PositionColor ones? or is this possible at all? or do I need to define a single material for each PositionColor vertex?


Thanks

Hi Jack

The structure of a vertex for 3D model is defined as follows:

struct a_customvertex {
float x, y, z;
float nx,ny,nz;
};

Also for the pointcloud is defined as follows:

typedef struct PositionColor
{
public:
PositionColor() : X(0), Y(0), Z(0), Color(0) {}
PositionColor( float x, float y, float z, DWORD color )
: X(x), Y(y), Z(z), Color(color) {}
float X, Y, Z;
DWORD Color;
} PositionColor;


I have set the FVF for the a_customvertex based model as D3DFVF_XYZ | D3DFVF_NORMAL and for PositionColor used for point cloud as D3DFVF_XYZ | D3DFVF_DIFFUSE.


Here is how I use lighting on my OnRenderFrame class:

pDevice->BeginScene();
SetUpLights( pDevice );
...
pDevice->SetStreamSource(0, m_aplannedB, 0, sizeof(a_customvertex));

//Render the 3d model
STRUCT_INSTANCES * instance = first_instance;
while (instance) {
pDevice->DrawPrimitive(D3DPT_TRIANGLELIST, instance->startIndex, instance->primitiveCount);
}
instance = instance->next;
}


D3DMATERIAL9 mtrl;
mtrl.Diffuse.r = mtrl.Ambient.r = mtrl.Specular.r = 1.0f;
mtrl.Diffuse.g = mtrl.Ambient.g = mtrl.Specular.g = 1.0f;
mtrl.Diffuse.b = mtrl.Ambient.b = mtrl.Specular.b = 1.0f;
mtrl.Diffuse.a = mtrl.Ambient.a = mtrl.Specular.a = 0.5f;

mtrl.Emissive.r = 0.1f;
mtrl.Emissive.g = 0.1f;
mtrl.Emissive.b = 0.1f;
mtrl.Emissive.a = 0.5f;

pDevice->SetMaterial(&mtrl);

...

pDevice->EndScene();
pDevice->Present( 0, 0, 0, 0 );


Here is my light class:

void CApp::SetUpLights( LPDIRECT3DDEVICE9 pDevice )
{
float max = 1;
D3DXVECTOR3 vecDir;
D3DLIGHT9 light;
ZeroMemory(&light, sizeof(D3DLIGHT9));
light.Type = D3DLIGHT_DIRECTIONAL;
light.Diffuse.r = 0.5f;
light.Diffuse.g = 0.5f;
light.Diffuse.b = 0.5f;
light.Diffuse.a = 1.0f;
light.Specular.r = 0.0f;
light.Specular.g = 0.0f;
light.Specular.b = 0.0f;
light.Specular.a = 0.0f;
light.Ambient.r = 0.0f;
light.Ambient.g = 0.0f;
light.Ambient.b = 0.0f;
light.Ambient.a = 0.0f;
light.Position.x = (float) -2.0f;
light.Position.y = (float) -2.0f;
light.Position.z = (float) -2.0f;
vecDir.x = -2.0f;
vecDir.y = -6.0f;
vecDir.z = -1.0f;
D3DXVec3Normalize((D3DXVECTOR3*)&light.Direction, &vecDir);
light.Range = 5.0f;

pDevice->SetLight( 0, &light );
pDevice->LightEnable ( 0, true ) ;

D3DLIGHT9 light1;
ZeroMemory(&light1, sizeof(D3DLIGHT9));
light1.Type = D3DLIGHT_DIRECTIONAL;
light1.Diffuse.r = 0.5f;
light1.Diffuse.g = 0.5f;
light1.Diffuse.b = 0.5f;
light1.Diffuse.a = 1.0f;
light1.Specular.r = 0.0f;
light1.Specular.g = 0.0f;
light1.Specular.b = 0.0f;
light1.Specular.a = 0.0f;
light1.Ambient.r = 0.0f;
light1.Ambient.g = 0.0f;
light1.Ambient.b = 0.0f;
light1.Ambient.a = 0.0f;
light1.Position.x = (float) 2.0f;
light1.Position.y = (float) 2.0f;
light1.Position.z = (float) 2.0f;
vecDir.x = 2.0f;
vecDir.y = 6.0f;
vecDir.z = 1.0f;
D3DXVec3Normalize((D3DXVECTOR3*)&light1.Direction, &vecDir);
light1.Range = 5.0f;


pDevice->SetLight( 1, &light1 );
pDevice->LightEnable ( 1, true ) ;

// Finally, turn on some ambient light.
pDevice->SetRenderState(D3DRS_AMBIENT, 0x00707070 );

}


Unfortunately the 3d model appears in black (as if the normals are not parsed in). I have traced the parsing and I am for sure the normals are in, however the model still appears in black and the pointcloud gets colored!!!


Is there anyway that I can figure out what's going wrong with the material and/or lighting setup for the 3D model and why instead of lighting the model, it lights the point cloud?

Thanks,
Albert

Have you enabled lighting on the device?
device−>SetRenderState (D3DRS LIGHTING , TRUE) ;
Also, when using a directional light, you don't need to set the position. You only need to setup the direction and off you go.

I hope this helps.

Yes, the lighting is enabled, but unfortunately it only associates the colors with the pointcloud as opposed to the 3D model vertices.