This is similar to a continuous-tone plot, but lighting is included to
give more impression of shape.
The
LIGHT
command, see
The LIGHT panel, controls the lighting aspects of the plot; and there are special
options in
CONTOUR, see
DATA COMPONENTS - BASIC, to control the contouring aspects.
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 "Fuzzy" vs "Solid banded" plots in SI Shaded Image mode.
Prior to D3PLOT 9.2 "SI" mode plots always had blurred contour bands, making it impossible (deliberately) to tell where band boundaries lay.
From D3PLOT 9.2 onwards the default is now for SI mode to show solid contours, giving the effect of a lit CT mode plot, although you have the option of reverting to "fuzzy" (technically "Gouraud") shading if you wish.
There are considerable speed differences when rendering:
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Solid Bands
(Default)
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Draws solid contour bands, exactly as in a
CT
plot, except that lighting is added. Execute more slowly since discrete polygons of colour must be computed for elements with data variation, often doubling or more the quantity of data sent down the graphics pipeline.
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Fuzzy bands
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Execute faster as 3D graphics hardware is optimised to handle gouraud shading efficiently. Also "smooth" shading is not implemented with Banded SI plots, as the overhead of interpolating outward normal vectors at sub-polygon vertices would be prohibitive.
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