3.52 Shadow Catcher problems

[studiotribe]

I can't seem to figure out V-Ray's shadow catcher implementation. Using Modo's standard shadow catcher object from the preset library gives a result that looks good in RT CPU, but not in a standard render. I've also tried enabling the Matte properties on the Shader which gave the same error.

[vladimir.nedev]

Is the image on the right a single production rendering ? It looks like it's made up of a few different region renders. Are you using distributed rendering ?
Can you attach the scene please ?

Greetings,
Vladimir Nedev

[studiotribe]

Here you go. Had to recreate the scene so there's minor differences but I've attached a new render for reference.

Oh, almost forgot your original question. This is a single production render, not regions, not distributed.

[vladimir.nedev]

This seems to be a bug with the adaptive lights and the shadow catcher. The adaptive lights are not used in RT CPU, that's why you don't see the problem there.
As a work-around, you could disable the adaptive lights in the V-Ray Main settings, as shown in the attached screen-shot.

Greetings,
Vladimir Nedev

[studiotribe]

Thanks for the quick fix.

[nickjamesgordon]

Hi Vladimir,

Also trying to setup a shadow catcher, running 901.

I seem to be missing some settings in the 'global options' panel as well... how do I get these options?

Best,

Nick

[boyan]

And something from me as a workaround. You can use Brute force as the secondary render engine without to change the "Light Evaluation Mode". By the way, this mimics the MODO native render solution.In the example below, I have enabled V-Ray Object Properties, Matte Surface option, and disable the Environment IS as well.

Cheers,

[boyan]

Hi Vladimir,

Also trying to setup a shadow catcher, running 901.

I seem to be missing some settings in the 'global options' panel as well... how do I get these options?

Best,

Nick

Well, Nick

You have to install the latest release 3.52.01 from here:https://download.chaosgroup.com/

If you have a access to nightly build install the latest one from here: https://nightlies.chaosgroup.com/mai...oshi/nightlies

Cheers,

[nickjamesgordon]

Thanks Vladimir, I thought I had already done that!

Sorry, one more question... I'm rendering out a product animation and plan on adding a white-light grey background later in after effects (to match video footage).
Currently the shadow is in the alpha channel by the look of it, how do I render it in the main FinalColourOutput?

Best,

Nick

[boyan]

I can't seem to figure out V-Ray's shadow catcher implementation. Using Modo's standard shadow catcher object from the preset library gives a result that looks good in RT CPU, but not in a standard render. I've also tried enabling the Matte properties on the Shader which gave the same error.

The easiest way to fix that without to change anything is to increase the Diffuse Amount on the Shadow Catcher material as example below. I am still recommend you to add and V-Ray Object Properties with Matte Surface option for more control.

[vladimir.nedev]

And something from me as a workaround. You can use Brute force as the secondary render engine without to change the "Light Evaluation Mode".

Don't do this. Disabling the light cache effectively disables the adaptive lights as well, so it's the same thing, only you lose the speed-up from the light cache itself.

Greetings,
Vladimir Nedev