Target Direct casting bogus shadows (with screenshots)

[wolfie]

Hey there,
Still learning VRAY / 3D max ...

This is maybe not so much a specific VRAY question , but since I'm using VRAY as my renderer , I might as well post it here hope u dont mind

I got this very little and insignificant test scene setup. Trying to obtain realistic outdoor lighting on a sunny day somewhere in the south of France.


I got 1 Direct Target light hitting the scene from very far and rather high

Settings can be found on the screenshot

as you can see the shadows of the orange bar are completely off ... they do not "drop" onto the right wall like they should ... weird problem

(don't look at the poor aa, all settings are low for testing purposes)

help is appreciated[/img]

[DaForce]

I think i know what is going on, and its quite simple.

The wall that you think should be recieving the shadows of the orange box looks like it is already in shadows or partially in shadow as there is no direct light hitting it. Try moving the light turner towards the camera, like swing it to the right more so that its pointing more towards the corner of those walls.

See how you go.

[proces2]

wouldn't using 'area shadows' be a problem. i think you should be using the vray shadow.

sean

[cocolas]

plus use a spot light instead of a direct light so that you can get nice, diffuse areas shadows....

paul.

[DaForce]

Ahh i missed the "area shadows" , yeah change them to vray shadows and tick area shadows in the vray shdows properties rollout.

[proces2]

if he is trying to simulate correct sunlight (and correct shadows from sunlight) then he is right to use the direct light (from far away) so that he can get parallel rays hitting the model.

sean

[nuts]

do vray-area shadows even work with a direct light ?
wouldn't make sense...

[DP]

they do, but if you want diffuse shadows they behave like a spot light.

[proces2]

i have found, though, that if you place the direct light far away from your model - you can turn on 'area shadows' and still get the shadows to cast accurately on the model (using sunlight system to set location of the model, time of day, etc.).

[DP]

yep...just like a spot light would

[DaForce]

**RANT MODE ON**
mmmmm i just love it when someone posts something asking for help...and never replies....hmmm really shits me.

Im sure there could be a legit reason for the lack of response from the original poster....but i have seen many a thread die like this.
**RANT MODE OFF**

[olitech]

...possibly your shadow bias is too high?... if it is, try .01