Looking for an output that mimicks the very "flat" Sketchup hidden line w/ shadows setting

[adam_phillips]

With all of V-Ray's powerful photoreal abilities, I'm trying to swim upstream here and force it to do something super simple for an analytical purpose.

What I want is an output that renders all objects flat white (no shading, etc.) and ONLY renders sun shadows.
I am able to get close to this by setting a white color material override, turning off global illumination, and basically turning off 95% of the other settings--but still haven't been able to solve for the following two issues:

1. Objects that are not in shadow still have some slight shading for sloped roofs, etc. NOTE: If I crank up the sun intensity to 1000, this object shading does get blown out, however I also lose the shadow penumbras (which I can't get using Sketchup and is actually why I'm trying to use V-Ray for this).



2. The intensity of the sun varies throughout the day--brighter at midday, and dimmer during the morning and evening (see image below compared to the image above).


I know this is how the "real" sun behaves, but I'd like to have a consistent light intensity that doesn't change at different times of day. I can fiddle with output post-production to adjust this, but would be great if I didn't have to.

One final consideration is that I'm looking to output a long series of shadow images, so best possible rendering speed is also important.

Reasonably new to V-Ray, so maybe there are tricks I'm not aware of, etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated--even if it's just telling me that V-Ray is the wrong tool for this job

[richard_harling1]

Hi, you're looking for a light study to determine how shadows fall? Vray is right for the job but you will need some post in PS to remove the grey scale as vray renders how light rays interact with surfaces/materials so there will be some areas that sit between full sun and full shadow.

[adam_phillips]

Thanks for your reply--yes I'm doing a shadow study but actually trying NOT to filter out these partially shaded areas--just eliminate ambient light shading on non-shadowed surfaces (see my original post)

I'm attempting a more refined analysis which specifically incorporates these partially shaded areas which is why I'm trying to use Vray instead of sketchup's native shadow rendering, which otherwise would be sufficient. Hope this clarifies. . .

[richard_harling1]

Hi haven't found a way to give a hidden line effect with a single Vray 6 render although I have seen something similar with vray Vantage. I can achieve the effect using the Vray Render and a PDF 2d output from SU then combined in PS, like the attached, if that is that is what you are after? Going through PS give you far more control with your contrast and line control. Cheers