Controlling Shadows Production for Each Object

The production or otherwise of shadows can be controlled for each object in the scene, as well as for each light.

By default, all objects will cast and receive shadows, when illuminated by lights which cast them. However, there may be situations where this is undesirable, for instance, certain objects cannot produce a visible shadow, due to the viewing position: excluding these objects from shadow calculations can result in improved rendering performance; both in terms of increased speed and reduced memory usage.

This can be performed through the hierarchy browser (open it using the Managers > Browser command). By right clicking one or more selected objects in the browser, a popup menu appears allowing you to instruct the program as whether an object must Cast shadows or not and whether it must Receive shadows or not.

You can resort to these options also to illuminate certain areas of a scene without creating shadows, without the need for a complex system of 'fill' lights as would be used in a theatre or movie set.

See also:

• About Lights.

• Light Source Types.

• New Light (how to add a new light to the scene).

• Assigning a Light Shader.

• Saving Light Settings.

• Editing Light Settings.

• Creating Shadows.