How to use Glow in ParametricPlot3D

Question

I get the output that I need from

r = 100000000000;
ParametricPlot3D[r {Cos[ϕ]*Sin[θ], Sin[ϕ]*Sin[θ], Cos[θ]}, {ϕ, 0, 2 π}, {θ, 0, π}, 
  ColorFunction -> Function[{x, y, z}, Glow[GrayLevel[z]]],
  Lighting -> None, Axes -> False, Mesh -> None]

However if r = 1, then the sphere goes black.
Why does it do that, and how to get the correct color despite r = 1?

Output in V11.3 on windows with Intel(R) HD Graphics 5500: I think it's a bug now, I tried V11.2 and it worked.

Hm, looks normal on my computer. What about values of r in between? — Grzegorz Rut, Jul 18 '18 at 14:13
@GregoryRut Fewer zeros than r = 10000000000; makes it black. Do you use V11.3 on windows? — MeMyselfI, Jul 18 '18 at 14:18
11.1.1 on Ubuntu. Have you tried to reset your kernel? Seems like there is a hidden constant that might affect your result. — Grzegorz Rut, Jul 18 '18 at 14:20
@GregoryRut Yes it's restarted, but now I tried also V11.2 and got the correct output — MeMyselfI, Jul 18 '18 at 14:25

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 18 '18 at 16:27

On MacOS 10.13.6 and Mathematica 11.3, I also observed this issue. I was able to fix it by going to the advanced options (Preferences), and setting

"3DRenderingMethod" $\rightarrow$ "BSPTree"

You can find this option by entering it in the search field.

I do think this should be tagged as a bug.

See also Weird behaviour of multiple transparent Raster3D objects in one Graphics3D

How to use Glow in ParametricPlot3D

1 Answers1