1. CAD Illustration For the exam you must know the role of common techniques for the representations of light, reflection, shadow, tone layout, material and texture. You must recognise these techniques and may be asked to identify these, explain their use and the describe the advantages of using them in certain situations.

2. Mediated Reality Computer-mediated reality refers to the ability to add to, subtract information from, or otherwise manipulate one's perception of reality through the use of digital technology. It can also be referred as virtual reality. Typically, it is the user's visual perception of the environment that is mediated.

3. Texture Mapping Texture mapping is a method for adding detail, surface texture (a bitmap or raster image), or colour to a computer-generated graphic or 3D model.

4. Bump Mapping Bump mapping is a technique in computer graphics for simulating bumps and wrinkles on the surface of an object. This is achieved by upsetting the surface norms of the object. The result is an apparently bumpy surface rather than a smooth surface although the surface of the underlying object is not actually changed.

5. Lighting Lighting refers to the way we apply lights in a CAD illustration. You must know the following: Ambient Light An ambient light casts soft light rays in every direction. It has no specific directionality so does not cast any shadows or shading, and simulates more of a secondary light that is coming from all different angles and is applied to all objects in a scene. Ambient lighting is great for filling in areas on a render that do not have enough illumination.

6. Directional Lights A directional light mimics the lighting that you would get from the sun. Directional lights emit parallel light rays in a single direction but the light reaches out into infinity. You can think of a directional light as a giant flash light very far away from your objects, always centred and it never dies off.

7. Area Lights An area light is a light that casts directional light rays from within a set boundary, either a rectangle or circle. This type of light is perfect for recreating florescent lights or something that is rectangular.

8. Point Lights Point lights are the most common light types found in 3D software. A point light is very similar to an incandescent light bulb that emits light in all directions. You can think of a point light as a sphere of light filling an area. Objects closer to the light will be brighter, and objects further away will be darker Point lights are great when you need to illuminate areas with a smooth falloff in all directions, or create a light that has a single point as its source, like a lamp or candle.

9. Spot Lights A spot light behaves exactly how it sounds, like a real spot light, and provides a very direct source of light. One of the key benefits that you get when using a spot light is the directionally that you get from the light. The spot light is emitted through a cone and you can control how wide the cone angle is which determines how much of the area is actually illuminated. Objects closer to the spot light will be brighter, and depending on the how wide the cone is the light will either be softer or harder.

10. Reflection & Specularity Reflections refer to the highlights lights create on a 3D item as well as the reflection of the image onto differing surface textures i.e. glass, mirrors and so on. The benefit of reflections are the ability to make models look like they are sitting on a real surface and create realistic lighting.

11. Specularity The quantity used in three-dimensional (3D) rendering which represents the amount of reflectivity a surface has. It is a key component in determining the brightness of specular highlights, along with shininess to determine the size of the highlights. A specular highlight is the bright spot of light that appears on shiny objects when illuminated. The term specular means that light is perfectly reflected in a mirror-like way from the light source to the viewer.

12. Depth of Field Depth of field is the amount of distance between the nearest and farthest objects that appear in acceptably sharp focus in a photograph. A preferred selection Depth of field ("DOF") in a focused subject in an image can be quite subjective

13. Image Based Lighting (IBL) Image-based lighting (IBL) is a 3D rendering technique which involves capturing a representation of real-world light information as an image, typically using a specialised camera. This image is then projected onto a dome or sphere to environment mapping, and this is used to simulate the lighting for the objects in the scene. This allows highly detailed real-world lighting to be used to light a scene, instead of trying to accurately model illumination using an existing rendering technique. Image-based lighting often uses high dynamic range imaging for greater realism, though this is not universal.high dynamic range imaging

14. High Dynamic Range Imagery (HDRI) When using the HDR image the reflections used on this environment will also appear on your model. HDRI also uses tonal mapping to try to recapture the way our eyes interpret light as it changes with direction and shadow. To understand the concept of High Dynamic Range (HDR) images, first think of a cathedral in which bright light spills in through an open door and illuminates part of the interior, except for some of the darker corners. If you were to enter the structure, your eyes would adjust to compensate for the excess or lack of light so that you can see properly.

15. Volumetrics Volumetric rendering refers to a technique for generating a visual representation of data that is contained in a three dimensional space (volume). It is used to render objects based on their complete structure as opposed to the surface render. These type of renders are used within the scientific and medical professions. Particularly good for rendering of smoke in the games based industry.