In the real world, light is seldom pure white. For more drama and accuracy you too should use subtle light colors.
— jim coe



Demo 4 - Modeling with Colored Emitters in Adobe Atmosphere


In your Adobe Atmosphere 3D models, colored sources will add together (mix), according to the 'Additive' color system of light, not the 'Subtractive' color system of pigments, just as in the real world. In this demo environment, a red, a green and a blue emitter of equal brightness are added to make more or less white.



What to do, notice and investigate

Fly around this demo environment and study it closely.
  1. Notice the colors of the light sources. White light is an equal mix (addition) of which 3 primary colors of the 'Additive' color system?
  2. Look how the colors are mixed more, as they are reflected and re-reflected.
  3. Note that the environment has an overall blue-green (cyan) 'cast'. Given that the three sources have equal brightness, shouldn't the environment be pure white? Why isn't it pure white?

1. White is an equal mix of which 3 primary 'Additive' colors?

Yes - red, green and blue. Light sources work by 'adding' together their individual colors. Adding blue and green to get cyan (blue-green) is intuitive, but adding red and green to get yellow may seem strange to you. It might help to state this in a different way. Think of it this way: "Equal stimulation of the red and green receptors in your eyes and brain creates the perception of yellow". For an everyday example of additive color mixing, look at a color TV screen or computer monitor through a magnifying glass.

2. Why does this demo environment have an overall cyan cast?

Because the red light is the top source, more of it escapes the environment, since there is no reflective ceiling. Or, to put it another way, the green and blue light are reflected from the white walls and floor of the environment more than the red light is, because there is no reflective ceiling.
What to Remember
  1. The "Additive" color system of adding red green and blue colors to get white applies when you are working directly with light, not with pigments. In computer graphics, this is called "RGB color".

    The "Subtractive" color system applies when you are working with pigments, not directly with the light that illuminates the pigments. Pigments subtract certain colors from the white light that reaches them, reflecting what they do not absorb. In digital printing, the pigment is ink and this is called "CMYK color", for cyan, magenta, yellow and black. Black is added in "four color printing" because the standard printing process is not very good at absorbing all colors from the white illumination, when only cyan, magenta and yellow are superimposed.
  2. Colors are mixed more evenly, as colored light is reflected and diffused.
— end —

Comments or suggestions please, to:
jimcoe(at)mindspring(dot)com


Simulating colored light in your 3D modelers requires understanding some color theory.