Specular highlight

Have you ever seen a shiny toy or a glittery paper? The bright spot or reflection that you see on it is called a specular highlight. It's like a little mirror that shows you the reflection of the light source.

Let's say you have a ball made of metal that reflects light. When you hold it in front of a bright light, you'll notice a bright spot on the surface of the ball. This "shiny" spot is called a specular highlight.

The way the surface of the ball reflects light depends on how smooth or rough it is. A smooth surface, like a mirror, reflects light in a more predictable way, which results in a bright and clear specular highlight. However, a rough surface will reflect light in various directions, creating a more diffused highlight.

In video games, movies, and animations, specular highlights are used to create a realistic look and feel for shiny objects. When light hits a shiny object, it reflects off of it in a certain way, just like the metal ball we talked about earlier. By adding specular highlights, designers and animators can make objects look more lifelike and believable.

So to sum it up, specular highlights are the bright spots you see on shiny objects when light hits them, and they help make things look more realistic in movies, games, and animations.