The specular layer represents the second layer of my uber-shader where the reflected light varies between rough and sharp. Reflected light can consist of light from punctual light sources, image sources, and/or reflections of other objects. In general, if the reflected light varies from different viewing angles, then the specular layer will handle those reflections.
In most shaders, specularity represents the reflections of light sources in the scene, and reflections represent the reflections of objects in the scene. In fact, … Read the rest