[Visualpython-users] Changing the lighting in vpythonB

[Chris B. <bu...@hv...>]

Hi,

One of the reasons I wanted to get into Vpython was to make astronomical
demos (parallax, phases of the moon, etc).  To get phases in the solar
system right, you need to have the light source at the center (the sun).
Also, the sun shouldn't have a dark side.  Is there any way to tell Visual
that the source of light is at the origin (or some other point in the
space?).  So far, I've only been able to change the direction and intensity 
of the lighting, not it's source position (it seems to come from off-screen).

If not, is there a way to have an object "ignore" the lighting (so that it 
doesn't have a dark side)?  That way, I could try to fake out central
lighting by continuously updating the lighting direction to be from
behind the sun (but then the sun is dark).  Not perfect, but a step in
the right direction.

Thanks,

Chris

--
Chris Burns
Visiting Assistant Professor
Dept. of physics and astronomy, Swarthmore College
cb...@sw...      http://hven.swarthmore.edu/~burns