Shadingkielet

Shadingkielet is a term used in discussions of computer graphics to describe a shading model that leverages a skeletal representation to manage and propagate lighting information across a 3D surface. The word combines shading with kielet, a stylized form of "skeleton," signaling that shading parameters are organized along a bone-like structure attached to the geometry.

Conceptually, a shadingkielet consists of a small set of base shading elements—bones—that control how light interacts with the surface. Each bone carries data such as diffuse coefficient, specular response, roughness, and normal perturbations. During rendering, shader code transfers lighting values along the skeleton, so neighboring vertices or fragments inherit coherent shading even under deformations. This can reduce state changes and improve cache locality, particularly for animated characters or procedurally deformed meshes.

Applications include real-time rendering for games and VR where materials must stay consistent under distortion, as well as stylized rendering pipelines that rely on a compact, artist-friendly control structure. The approach is compatible with standard shading models by blending the bone-driven parameters with traditional textures and maps.

Variants may treat bones as data-driven controls fed by animation or by procedural functions, while others use procedural shaders that compute bone influence on the fly. The concept remains most common in research discussions and niche pipelines rather than as a mainstream standard.