Shadows and Light Properties

Attenuation

Shadow Color

• Use this attribute to change the default black color of the shadow to something in the shade of the color the light is illuminating.

Depth Map Shadow

• Depth Map Shadow determines the resolution of the light’s shadow. If the Depth Map is too low, the shadow edges will looked pixilated. Use binary numbers to render faster (16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, etc.). Default is 512 but I’ve been happy with 1024.

Dmap Filter Size

• Dmap Filter Size ‘blurs’ the edges of the shadow. The higher the Dmap Filter Size, the more blurred the shadow will appear. Use this sparingly and keep in mind the time of day and the type of light that is being emulated.

Dmap Bias

• Dmap Bias is the offset from the light. Use this attribute if a shadow is not attached to the surface it is being generated off of.

Raytraced shadows

• Raytraced shadows are a time-intensive render process that calculates the individual light rays from the camera to the source (light).
• Using Raytraced shadows renders a better shadow than Depth Map Shadows but at a terrible expense of time.
• Use Raytraced shadows if you want to projected color shadows from transparent shaders (think of the example of stain glass windows).