what is wrong with my render??

[jbo]

looks like a problem with depth map shadows. you probably have the d-map resolution way too low. you can fix it under the attributes for the light(s)
-jesse

[putz22]

my resolution is set at 512... is that too low??... or should i just mess around with it until it looks good?

[colt]

Maybe it's ther resolution, use a higher one and higher sampling settings. But first try disabling shadows and see if those triangles go away ... or use raytraced shadows for a test .. maybe the fault is elsewhere.

[putz22]

Sweet... i upped the resolution and the triangles went away on the building... but now the fence looks all screwey... take a look... <http://www.modual.com/matt/Feb.20.2004/>

[dmcgrath]

I have been told before that the Depth Map res. should be set in multiples of 256 (in your case you probably want 1024) and set the DMap filter up to 2 or 3, it usually helps.

Remember that you have to do this for all of the lights in your scene. That is probably why the problem is noticable on the fence now.

[misterdi]

If you are using depth map shadow with directional light using Dmap auto Focus , be careful with your scene size.

No matter how big you set your depth map resolution, if the relative size of the scene and the shadow area are quite small you will have pixelation problems of your depth map.
(in your case, compare the size of the ground and the building)

Imagine if even you setup your depth map resolution is 4096 x 4096, but the shadow area maybe only reside in 50 pixels, when it is applied back for shadow you will see it is pixelated.

Suggestion, turn off you use Dmap auto Focus, and figure out what is the best width to be used. You can use look through selected (with your directional light selected), and adjust the orthographic width of the camera, until all shadow cast object are inside camera. Make note of the width and use it in your directional light Dmap width focus.

This will ensure that the generated depth map will only cover part of the scene where your shadow casting object stand.

Drawback will be part of the scene that is not included on the width will not have shadows.

[putz22]

Awesome! that worked!

Thanks everyone for helping me out!! this has been bugging me for a loong time

[misterdi]

Do you mind uploading the final image?.

[putz22]

here is my new render... <http://www.modual.com/matt/Feb.20.2004/Pixelation.Fixed!/courthouse_2.jpg>

but something i noticed that i didnt notice before is that the shadows don't show up as well now... their not as dark or something... it looks like my scene has too much light...

I'm not sure if this has anything to do with me changing the resolution of my directional light... i lowered the intensity of all my lights but it still looks like the shadows dont show up as well... i'm not sure if i can fix this, but any suggestions?

Thanks everyone

[CGTalk Moderation]

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.