shadable

shadable refers to a concept in computer graphics and art where an object or surface can receive or cast shadows. In rendering engines, objects are often tagged as "shadable" to indicate that they participate in the shadow calculation process. This means that light sources will interact with these objects to create areas of darkness, either by blocking light that would otherwise fall on other surfaces (casting shadows) or by being darkened themselves by objects in front of them (receiving shadows).

The ability for an object to be shadable is crucial for creating realistic lighting and depth in a scene. Without shadable objects, all surfaces would be uniformly lit, resulting in a flat and artificial appearance. Different materials and objects can have varying shadable properties, such as how opaque they are or how soft or hard their shadows appear. For instance, a transparent glass object might cast a faint shadow, while a solid metal object would cast a much darker one. The implementation of shadable objects involves complex algorithms that determine the path of light and the occlusion of light sources. This ensures that shadows are rendered accurately based on the geometry of the scene and the position of lights. In some contexts, "shadable" might also refer to a property that allows a particular shader program to be applied to an object, though this is a more technical interpretation related to rendering pipelines.