Semi-transparent materials and shadows
-
Thanks Dave, but that sounds like the dreaded (for me) post processing. For whatever reason I like my models (and the photos of the models) to be pure SU. Yeah, I are odd.
Yes Rich, it's interesting but a real pain in the butt. It's been a big problem with several models recently. Seems like the shadows should still be there, but their darkness would correspond with the opacity setting.
I was sort of hoping for a miracle work-around, or maybe a plugin or magical Harry Potter spell or something. Dang.
Don't know what I'll do now
-
Might be time to look at that "dreaded post-processing" again and maybe give it a chance.
-
Nah, I'm stubborn
-
We already knew that.
-
There is a plugin that lets you draw on shadows, can't think what it is just now. Something from Rederiza I think.
Tig has shadow projector which I think will outline the shadows for you so you can alter the material where the shadow should be so it looks like a shadow, if that makes sense.
-
And another thing...
A textured material using a PNG will not accept shadows even when it is not transparent at all. -
Box-
Thanks for the tips, I'll check them out and see what they can do. Even if they don't solve my problem, maybe they can be useful in some other way.TIG -
Not sure I understand. Are you saying that if I import a texture as a PNG file vs JPG it will not accept shadows? -
No, a textured material will accept a shadow IF it has NO transparency.
BUT if the texture is a PNG it will NEVER accept a shadow.
[EDIT: to clarify - if it has a transparency layer set - even if all pixels are opaque!] -
TIG, I'm not sure I'm following you.
Here's a PNG image.
I imported it as a texture which is applied to a face.
It seems to be accepting shadows.
Or do you mean that if there are any transparent pixels in a PNG texture image, none of it will accept shadows?
-
I also do not understand. I imported the stone texture as a PNG and it too seems to have no problems accepting the shadow
-
Try a .png in which the pixels are transparent
-
-
What's weird is how the shadow looks with different texture opacity settings -
72 percent
84 percent
99 percent
and 100 percent
-
At 72% you're seeing the shadow on the ground. At 99% the texture isn't transparent enough to see through.
-
Had to really think about that but then the "doh!" moment happened. Never would have figured that out on my own, thanks for explaining.
-
To recap...
Materials with < 100% opacity [i.e. transparent] of any kind - plain-color/jpg/png etc - will never receive a shadow.
If they are >= 70% opacity they will cast shadows - unless they use certain types of texture file, see below...Textured materials that are NOT transparent [100% opaque] will receive and cast shadows, IF the texture file has NO 'transparency layer' defined - e.g. it's a JPG file...
BUT if the texture file is a PNG, AND it also has a 'transparency layer' defined, then it will not receive shadows, AND also it will never cast shadows - even if the material itself is set to be is 100% opaque.
BUT if the material's texture is a PNG file with no 'transparency layer' defined, then it can accept/cast shadows, just like if a JPG file had been used. -
Yeah, what he said
-
There will be a test on this later and your score will count to your final result.
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login
Advertisement