Plastic Shading is very shiny and is the only surface type that has highlights, so it is suitable for illustrating objects that have a glossy or reflective surface.
Diffuse Shading has a soft matte look since it has no highlights, so it is great for cardboard or wood.
Wireframe completely ignores the fill color and renders the 3D object as transparent, with lots of black thin lines outlining its geometry. This is especially useful for a technical or blueprint look.
No Shading does not have any lighting options and paints all surfaces of the 3D object the same color as the 2D object. This makes the 3D object look completely flat. So in this case, our person icon looks silhouetted.
Adding Lights and Creating an Ultra-shiny Effect
Now that we know the different surface shading types, select Plastic Shading from this menu and move swiftly on to the Light Sphere directly below it. If you cannot see all the surface and lighting settings, click the More Options button to reveal them.
The Light Sphere is where you can position lights to illuminate your 3D object. Lights are represented by little dots, and you can move them by clicking on a light and dragging it around the sphere surface.
To place a light behind the sphere just click the Move selected light to back of object button. By default there is only one light, but you can add new lights by clicking on the New Light button. Each light will produce a highlight, so the more lights that you have, the brighter our person icon becomes. Let’s add six lights and position them around the sphere like I’ve done below.
Next, increase the Ambient Light setting slightly so the lighting all around the 3D object is much brighter. I’ve moved it from the standard 50% to 69%. Finally, increase the Highlight Intensity value all the way up to 100% to make the highlights really stand out. Our cyan plastic person has now changed into someone that is much more shiny and attractive!