Plugins: Shadows

[ToddD]

James, proper lighting and settings will produce better shadows. I don't think it's a final render problem(althought I don't use Fr) I think it is a general lighting/shadow map problem you are having. Read the max help files, make a simple scene, and adjust some of the parameters light/shadows to see what happens. My opinion is that if you are just starting out, you should learn lighting, modeling, and texturing on a basic level unaided by plug-ins. Of course we have GI available, but learning some basic principals will make you better at what you do.;)

[James Bending]

Thanks for the reply Tbonz816 and i'll take your suggestion into account, at the moment i have a 'novice' level of experience with lighting and i am now venturing into the world of plugins.

(Sorry what do you mean by GI?)

I should of probably termed my question differently as I am looking more into what plugins people favour for creating accurate shadows.

Thanks alot anyways :)

James

[CapnPanic]

also note that max 5 comes with a wide variety of new lighting options. the stock lights are more then enough for anyone at the 'novice' level to learn with. simply create a max spot light and check out the options in the shadow type drop down menu. i think the raytraced or raytraced area shadows will probably give you what you are looking for, but also keep in mind that even the simple shadow-map shadows have options that can imrove shadows quality

simply increasing the shadow-map size (say up to 1024 or even 2048) can increase shadow quality, while decreasing the shadow bias (hope this is the right term, i'm not in front of max right now) from it's stock setting of 1 to something much lower like .01 will bring your shadow right up to the edge of whatever is casting it, eliminating that little halo you sometimes see around teh bases of objects.

but i agree with tbonz816 in that you should just make a simple scene and play with all teh settings so you get a better feel for what they all do

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