p5.js specularMaterial() Function

Last Updated : 23 Aug, 2023

The specularMaterial() function in p5.js is used to create a specular material for a geometry with the given color. The specular material is a shiny reflective material. It also defines the color that the object would reflect. If the specular material is set to reflect only red, then it would reflect only the red color, else the object would not reflect any light of any other color. Syntax:

specularMaterial( v1, [v2], [v3] )

specularMaterial( color )

Parameters: This function accept four parameters as mentioned above and described below:

v1: It is a number which determines the gray value, or the red or hue value relative to the current color range.
v2: It is a number which determines the green or saturation value relative to the current color range. It is an optional parameter.
v3: It is a number which determines the blue or brightness value relative to the current color range. It is an optional parameter.
color: It is a p5.Color or color string which defines the color of the specular material.

Below example illustrates the directionalLight() function in p5.js: Example:

javascript

let newFont;
let currentLightColor = "red";
let currentSpecularColor = "red";

function preload() {
  newFont = loadFont('fonts/Montserrat.otf');
}

function setup() {
  createCanvas(600, 300, WEBGL);
  textFont(newFont, 16);

  materialColorSel = createSelect();
  materialColorSel.position(30, 70);
  materialColorSel.option('red');
  materialColorSel.option('green');
  materialColorSel.option('blue');
  materialColorSel.changed(() => {
    currentSpecularColor = materialColorSel.value();
  });

  lightColorSel = createSelect();
  lightColorSel.position(30, 120);
  lightColorSel.option('red');
  lightColorSel.option('green');
  lightColorSel.option('blue');
  lightColorSel.changed(() => {
    currentLightColor = lightColorSel.value();
  });
}

function draw() {
  background('white');
  fill('black');

  text("Select an option below to set the light"
     + " and specular material color", -285, -125);
  text("Select directional light color", -285, -100);
  text("Select specular material color", -285, -50);
  shininess(10);
  noStroke();

  // Set the specular material to the selected color
  specularMaterial(currentSpecularColor);

  // Set the directional to the selected color
  directionalLight(color(currentLightColor), 
               height / 2, width / 2, -250);

  // Draw the sphere
  translate(100, 0, 0);
  sphere(100);
  translate(-100, 0, 0);
}