DirectionalLight

Represents a light that emits in a single direction.

A directional light simulates an infinitely distant light source, such as sunlight. All light rays are considered parallel, and the light has no position in space, only direction. This makes it ideal for large-scale illumination like outdoor or scene-wide lighting.

When the target parameter is set to nullptr, the light will point toward the world origin.

auto directional = vglx::DirectionalLight::Create({
  .color = 0xFFFFFF,
  .intensity = 1.0f,
  .target = nullptr
});

INFO

Derives from Light and inherits all public properties and methods.

Construction

Constructors

DirectionalLight()

Constructs a directional light.

DirectionalLight::DirectionalLight(const Parameters& params);

Parameter	Description
params	Initialization parameters for constructing the light.

Factories preferred

DirectionalLight::Create() auto

Creates a shared instance of DirectionalLight.

static auto DirectionalLight::Create(const Parameters& params);

Parameter	Description
params	Initialization parameters for constructing the light.

Types

DirectionalLight::Parameters struct

Parameters for constructing a DirectionalLight object.

Parameter	Description
color Color	Light color.
intensity float	Light intensity multiplier.
target std::shared_ptr<Node>	Node the light is directed toward.

Properties

target std::shared_ptr<Node>

Node that the light is oriented toward.

std::shared_ptr<Node> target {};

Functions

Direction() Vector3

Returns the normalized direction vector of the light.

The direction is derived from the light’s position and its target node. If no target is set, the light will point toward the origin.

Vector3 DirectionalLight::Direction();

GetType() Light::Type virtual

Identifies this light as Light::Type::DirectionalLight.

Type vglx::DirectionalLight::GetType() const override;

OnUpdate() void virtual

Called once per frame to update the light state.

Currently used to update the debug geometry when debug mode is enabled.

void DirectionalLight::OnUpdate(float delta) override;

Parameter	Description
delta	Time in seconds since the last frame.

SetDebugMode() void virtual

Enables or disables debug visualization for this light.

When enabled, the renderer will visualize the light’s direction using a line and a unit plane facing the target.

void DirectionalLight::SetDebugMode(bool is_debug_mode) override;

Parameter	Description
is_debug_mode	true to enable debug mode; false to disable.