bakspac Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Hi to all, All I want to know is: Is there a way to set up a light in 3d studio max that will just cast shadows? preferably a shadow map using mental ray. Many Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RodT Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 under object properties you can have selected objects cast shadows, and not be visible to the camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakspac Posted October 4, 2007 Author Share Posted October 4, 2007 thanks for your reply but i need to see the objects i just need more control over the rig and thats why i need a seperate light to just cast shadows. has anyone ever heard about changing the light colour to black and messing about with the shadow parameters to achieve the effect??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Buckley Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 have you tried putting the light into the scene, turn shadows on, and then right click on the light in the viewport and uncheck 'affect diffuse' and uncheck 'affect specular', that may work although i have tested it, i use that method to bring out specualr highlights in reflective objects without adding to the illumination of the scene. i'l do a test render and post it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakspac Posted October 4, 2007 Author Share Posted October 4, 2007 i will try it now cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Buckley Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 i don't think my method works i'm afraid, it only works for the method i use as mentioned above, specular highlights, and thats when i use mental ray. sorry. i'l keep looking Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Buckley Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 also try posting your problem on the autodesk discussion groups, usually loads of technical minded people wanting to help there, or the area which i think is where the max discussion group has now moved to Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Buckley Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 sorry me again, another solution (also not sure if this will work for what you need : p) have you thought about multipass rendering. using an extra light, it will affect the scene lighting initially but then you could just render out a shadow pass and then delete that light. (so all you would be doing really is using that light to get the shadows. composite it together is post??? another possibility. i don't have much experience with multi pass but from what i understand, this may be possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Buckley Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 oh and i don't think mental ray supports shadow maps. raytraced or adv. raytraced only i think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasterZap Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 Hi to all, All I want to know is: Is there a way to set up a light in 3d studio max that will just cast shadows? preferably a shadow map using mental ray. Many Thanks I'd like to know exactly what you are trying to acheive (your end result) to be able to answer the question properly. IIRC there are some oldschool tricks w. negative lights around, but I don't know how well they work 2007. /Z Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Homeless Guy Posted October 4, 2007 Share Posted October 4, 2007 also, post an image of the look you are trying to acheive, since in the real world you can not have shadow without light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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