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. The target must belong to the same Scene as this object. Attaching or referencing a target from a different scene results in undefined behavior and is not supported.

cpp

my_scene->Add(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.

cpp

DirectionalLight::DirectionalLight(const Parameters& params);

Parameter	Description
params	Initialization parameters for constructing the light.

Factories preferred

DirectionalLight::Create() std::unique_ptr<DirectionalLight>

Creates an instance of DirectionalLight.

cpp

static std::unique_ptr<DirectionalLight> 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 Node*	Node the light is directed toward.

Properties

target Node*

Node that the light is oriented toward.

cpp

Node* target {nullptr};

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.

cpp

Vector3 DirectionalLight::Direction();

GetType() Light::Type virtual

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

cpp

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.

cpp

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.

cpp

void DirectionalLight::SetDebugMode(bool is_debug_mode) override;

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