Shadow catcher in RT

[MANUEL_MOUSIOL]

Hi,

I am pretty sure that this is doable but I just cant seem to get it to work.
I simply am trying to do a shadow matte with the ground plane in RT, cuda rendering.
I used the common settings for that (under vray properties), then also tried the shadow catcher button.
Alpha for the ground is always solid, not inverted for the shadow like it should be.
Testing in production CPU rendering resulted in the correct matte...
I am on the latest nightly build.

[svetlozar.draganov]

Everything works fine here:

Here is the test scene if you would like to run it into your environment:
http://ftp.chaosgroup.com/support/scenes/cuda_matte.max

This is with the latest nightly build from today, revision number 27367.
Can you get me the revision number of the build you are using as well as the scene so I could look inside?
Version and revision number could be easily extracted from the following MaxScript command:

vrayversion()

[savage309]

And a video about it.
Keep in mind that you have to have texture in the env slot and to restart the RT rendering after the first matte material is added in the scene. Also, please check that you have not disabled the render elements in your scene.

Best,
Blago.

[MANUEL_MOUSIOL]

And a video about it.
Keep in mind that you have to have texture in the env slot and to restart the RT rendering after the first matte material is added in the scene. Also, please check that you have not disabled the render elements in your scene.

Best,
Blago.

Thanks.
I will look into it. So that means if only use Vray lights or a dome, the matte will not work? I always need a tex in the env slot?

[savage309]

Thanks.
I will look into it. So that means if only use Vray lights or a dome, the matte will not work? I always need a tex in the env slot?

Yeah. But I think it has always been the case for RT (though I might be wrong about that).

Best,
Blago.

[MANUEL_MOUSIOL]

Yeah. But I think it has always been the case for RT (though I might be wrong about that).

Best,
Blago.

Had to the time to try it out, but the max file you sent me is probably newer than my version (2015)
I put a VrayHDRI into the env slot, both in vray settings and the 3dsmax one, but the ground is still visible, not acting as a matte...
Edit: I didnt have the VrayMatteShadow in the render elements and got the message that "matte render elements are missing. matte property cannot be set. you may need to restart the renderer."
now that I added the element, I am getting the message that VrayMatteShadow is not supported. The VrayPlane is not visible anymore but there is no shadow either...

[savage309]

Had to the time to try it out, but the max file you sent me is probably newer than my version (2015)
I put a VrayHDRI into the env slot, both in vray settings and the 3dsmax one, but the ground is still visible, not acting as a matte...
Edit: I didnt have the VrayMatteShadow in the render elements and got the message that "matte render elements are missing. matte property cannot be set. you may need to restart the renderer."
now that I added the element, I am getting the message that VrayMatteShadow is not supported. The VrayPlane is not visible anymore but there is no shadow either...

Can you share a sample scene so we can check what is going on?

Best,
Blago.

[svetlozar.draganov]

Here is the scene saved to 3dsMax 2015:
http://ftp.chaosgroup.com/support/sc...matte_2015.max

Would it be possible to send your scene for investigation?
You are probably using something that we are missing and it would take us more time to find it guessing than investigating the scene.

[MANUEL_MOUSIOL]

matteshadow.zip
sorry for the late reply. problem still remains. shadow catcher is working in CPU production though.

added question: how would I go about using the comp I received from the client as background in RT while using the shadow catcher?

[MANUEL_MOUSIOL]

I set the production render engine as RT too and the shadow catcher worked!
didnt know that active shade RT is so dependent on the production render engine.
Edit: Next Problem, Vray Adv Production renders the matte plane fine with -1 Alpha, RT gives me a grey alpha with the shadows
Adv:
RT:

[MANUEL_MOUSIOL]

sorry to bring this up again and again, but I retested my scene by importing only the basic geometry in a new resetted scene and then creating new lights. the shadow matte didnt work together with a Vray Dome Light. Just using the vray sun, it worked, but not with the dome light. Deleting the dome light in the old scene didnt fix the problem though. I am now on nightly build 27386 for 3dsmax 2015

[MANUEL_MOUSIOL]

Just realised that I posted in the wrong section...this should be in the RT section obviously.
Maybe thats why responses stopped?
Would love to understand what is going on...

[savage309]

Just realised that I posted in the wrong section...this should be in the RT section obviously.
Maybe thats why responses stopped?
Would love to understand what is going on...

Responses will never stop because of wrong section
Sometimes it takes a while for the support guys to answer a thread, since they can get overbooked. Also, we have plenty of bank holidays these days ...

Sorry for the delay,
Best,
Blago.

[MANUEL_MOUSIOL]

Responses will never stop because of wrong section
Sometimes it takes a while for the support guys to answer a thread, since they can get overbooked. Also, we have plenty of bank holidays these days ...

Sorry for the delay,
Best,
Blago.

ok cool. you just set a very high standard when it comes to thorough and fast answering so when there is no response I get antsy. haha. sorry.

[svetlozar.draganov]

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sorry for the late reply. problem still remains. shadow catcher is working in CPU production though.

added question: how would I go about using the comp I received from the client as background in RT while using the shadow catcher?

Thanks for the scene, it looks like Matte doesn't work properly if Render Elements are disabled.
As soon as they are enabled Matte is rendered properly by GPU.