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Author Topic: Shadow Question  (Read 6517 times)

manuecat

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Shadow Question
« on: August 21, 2009, 07:12:34 am »
Is there a way to cast shadows onto a transparent object or better yet is there a way to render out only the shadow of an object? 
Thanks in advance.
Jay~

PS. My reason for asking is I enjoy using Anim8or to add 3D objects to real life photo's and video, but need the shadow on the ground.
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Raxx

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Re: Shadow Question
« Reply #1 on: August 21, 2009, 08:51:03 am »
Actually there is. Due to a bug/glitch/failing in Anim8or's scanline renderer, if you set an object's material as completely transparent, it'll still cast shadows. However I don't think this will be completely useful for adding shadows into real life photos since transparent objects can't receive shadows.

So the best way I suggest is to render out the objects without shadows, then do another render with the fake ground/floors/walls etc that'll be receiving the shadows except that all the objects are given a white material so that only the shadows stand out (and the scene background made pure white), then layer that render over the original in photoshop with darken or multiply filter applied to it.
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manuecat

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Re: Shadow Question
« Reply #2 on: August 21, 2009, 08:59:59 am »
Thank you for your reply Raxx, I will have to give it a try.  Do you think Anim8or in the future will have this option?  I only ask because I know Blender offers it and it seems like it would be a good feature to include.
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Raxx

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Re: Shadow Question
« Reply #3 on: August 21, 2009, 10:05:21 am »
Who's to say? It's all up to Steve. I think he's focused on the bigger features before he'll start implementing the smaller features, but we don't have a definite roadmap for Anim8or's development ;)
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Pincho

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Re: Shadow Question
« Reply #4 on: August 21, 2009, 11:01:13 am »
Plenty of ways you can use Anim8or to add shadows to photographs, but most of the work should be done by Photoshop, and basically any material will be fine. What you need to do actually is mask, and cut the unwanted areas of the texture, so transparency makes absolutely no difference at all. Photoshop has it's own opaque settings to do that.
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