I need some advice on how accomplish a shading solution on my project. I have a high resolution sphere (the Moon) to which I am applying a normal map using a Dot3 material.
My problem occurs at the terminator, when the normal map is applied, then parts of the material beyond the shadow terminator (shown by the green line in the screen shots) get illuminated <http:// groups.google.com/group/away3d-dev/web/ScreenGrab1.JPG>. To try and resolve this I added a white PhongColorMaterial with a blend mode of DARKEN into a composite material with the original Dot3 material and then applied the composite material to the sphere. This successfully removed the spurious highlights in the shadow region, darkening them down to the ambient light level. However it also tones down the normal map highlights in the illuminated area close to the terminator <http://groups.google.com/group/away3d-dev/web/ ScreenGrab2.JPG>. What I think need is a material that is fully illuminated in the lit area, and with a sharp transition to ambient level in the shade. Can anyone suggest a way I could achieve this, or suggest an alternative approach? Many thanks Mark
