unable to soft shadows

V-Ray for SketchUp V-Ray for SketchUp :: Issues
1

hi.
lately i have been rendering with hdri’s. the problem with that is that i do not loger have the sun’s size value, therefore i can not soft shadow in my renders.
is there a way to solve that?

2

Re: unable to soft shadows

ok, i guess there’s no answer to that… thank you anyway 8)

3

Re: unable to soft shadows

Omar

The ‘soft shadows’ are still there. In the ‘environment’ roll out, GI Colour - sunlight - size. Set this to your preference (I use 5)

We are all in the same boat (without a rudder) - so keep at it!

David

4

Re: unable to soft shadows

Thankyou very much for taking the time to answer this David.
The problem is that sun’s size value does not appear anymore when we change from sky to bitmap in the GI.
lately i’ve used a lot of hdri’s for my illumination, and decided to set the sun behind my models because i don’t like sharp shadows…
here’s everything i have when i change to bitmap mode. (you’ll notice that there is no sun size value anymore)

perhaps there is not an answer to that, but thank you very much anyway.

5

Re: unable to soft shadows

The Sun Size only exists in the Sun/Sky map. You can’t set it in a bitmap texture.

6

Re: unable to soft shadows

Usually it is very hard to get sharp shadow with and HDRI, so I think that maybe you have the default light enable and that light is what is producing the sharp shadow.
You have basically three option to produce light. One is the GI environment that produce illumination with any type of mapping or images that you use there. The other is the Background that only produce illumination if you have a Sky there. If you have a HDRI or other mapping type, will not produce light and the third is the default light under the Global Switches. Of course I’m not taking of the other light types as emissive, omni light, rectangular light and on the new build Spot light and IES light.
So, maybe you have a Sky in the Background, that produce light when you use it there, or the default light is enable. It is very weird that the HDRI produce hard shadow.

Best

7

Re: unable to soft shadows

oh, you’re right… gotta make some tests.
thank you very much! ;D