Motivation:
For various reasons, the standard shadow generators available in Max
are not sufficient when it comes to do photoreal work. As a studio,
we are getting requests for work now that consistently challenges both
shadow maps and the current quad tree based raytraced shadows. We
needed alternatives that wouldn't require us to switch renderers.
It should be noted that properly configured standard Max raytraced lights
can outperform the RayFX shadows under certain circumstances. The
quadtree method used by Max is very fast in quadtree friendly scenes.
Narrow beam spotlights are generally very fast, whereas Directional lights
are nearly always grindingly slow. RayFX shadow performance is much
less sensitive to scene structure and light configuration. The point
being, if the quality of Max's raytraced shadows is sufficient, and it
outperforms the RayFX shadows, by all means, use the default Raytraced
light.
Release Notes:
Standard
Shadows
Area
Light Shadows
You may not distribute this without permission from blur studio.
If you use it, your company has cool T-Shirts, and your looking for a way to show your gratitude, send a shirt or two to:
R&D at Blur Studio, Inc.
1130 Abbot Kinney Blvd.
Venice, CA 90291
software@blur.com
Steve Blackmon - Blur.
Last Modified : 5/20/2000