arkiedmund Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 I created a little scene using MAX's Mental Ray, renderer. Question is: How do I create soft edged shadows using mental ray lights. I used a MR Free spot and skylight in the scene. Thanks a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carloscristerna Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 have you tried Mental ray shadow map?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkiedmund Posted February 1, 2006 Author Share Posted February 1, 2006 Oh....can you explain how that mental ray shadow maps work? and how do i get around to setting it up? thanks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enigma Posted February 1, 2006 Share Posted February 1, 2006 Many ways actually to achieve soft shadows in mr... 1. use mr shadow maps like carlos stated. in mr shadow map, you basically control the samples and the spread in mr shadow map parameters just as you would in a standard shadow map. 2. Another way to achieve soft shadows in mr is by using mr lights such as the mr areaspot and the mr area areaomni. 2a. YOu can use mr shadows as well in these types of light but this would leave you more parameters to control like the mrarea light size and the mr shadow map parameters. you might find this one a bit confusing at first but once you get to feel how it works, i'm sure you'll get the hang of it. *Take note that shadow maps don't pass through transparent surfaces. 2b. You can use raytraced shadows for mr arealights. Be sure to check mental ray area sampling under the light's parameter to achieve soft shadows.The less samples....more noise....more samples...smooth look but with the expense of longer render times. unchecking this would result more like a standard light with raytraced shadows, therefore you don't get soft shadows. 3. Lastly, photometric lights also work well in mr so you have a third choice:D. But Photometric lights works hand in hand with area shadows, and we know how area shadows greatly contribute to render times. Well i guess that's all from what i know. There may be a lot of other ways but no matter how many workarounds we mention here, you would always choose the best that would fit for your scene and situation. good luck and it helped somehow;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkiedmund Posted February 2, 2006 Author Share Posted February 2, 2006 Enigma, Carlos and Brian: Thanks a lot for the tips. I'll definitely try your suggestions. Hope to post what I was making when I get it done. Thanks a lot to you all. If anyone else had any more ideas, just post them here. we can all learn from this I am sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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