How 3D Game Rendering Works: Lighting and Shadows

The vast majority of visual effects you see in games today depend on the clever use of lighting and shadows -- without them, games would be dull and lifeless. In this fourth part of our deep look at 3D game rendering, we'll focus on what happens to a 3D world alongside processing vertices and applying textures. It once again involves a lot of math and a sound grasp of the fundamentals of optics.