Conclusion

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This chapter covered light mapping and environment mapping, which are probably the most effective methods for adding realism to a 3D scene. Using these techniques strategically can make your 3D games and simulations truly lifelike.

In Chapter 12, we'll look at another tool you can use for effective texturing: stencil buffers. Stencil buffers allow you to enable or disable drawing to the render-target surface on a pixel-by-pixel basis. This means that your software will mask portions of the rendered image so that they aren't displayed. You'll see that you can use stencil buffers to generate intriguing 3D effects for the scenes you render, such as dissolving, decaling, and outlining.