Shadow

Though every entity in the real world casts and receives shadow, it is obvious that casting and receiving shadow must be defined in the 3D world so that some main objects or characters are not intensively shaded by the others, such as the dome acting as the sky. In 3DXchange, it is possible to decide the casting and receiving shadow attributes by simply check on / off the corresponding boxes.

  • Cast Shadow – It defines if the objects cast shadows in iClone. Basically, all the props, accessories, or 3D scenes shall cast shadow. Therefore, this box is checked up for all the editable nodes in the tree view by default. Check off the box to prevent the objects from casting shadows.

    1. Select the object node that you decide to have it cast shadow in the tree view.

    2. Check up the Cast Shadow box.

    3. Export to iClone and apply it to the scene.

      • The dome in the illustration imitates the 3D environment. The faces of it hence have the normals inward.

      • Since the dome casts shadow, all the nodes inside of it are shaded and receives no light.

      • Turn off the shadow of the dome in 3DXchange, so the light pass through its mesh and all the nodes in it are able to cast shadow.

3dXchange cast shadow 3dscene before Shadow

3dXchange cast shadow 3dscene after Shadow

3D Scene casts shadow

3D Scene shadow turned off

  • Receive Shadow – It defines if the objects receive shadows in iClone. Normally, all the props, accessories, or 3D scenes receive shadow. Therefore, this box is checked up for all the editable nodes in the tree view by default. Check off the box to prevent the objects from receiving shadows.

    1. Select the object node that you decide to have it receive shadow in the tree view.

    2. Check up the Receive Shadow box.

    3. Export to iClone and apply it to the scene.

      • The dome in the illustration imitates the 3D environment. The faces of it hence have the normals inward.

      • Since the dome in the left illustration receives shadow, the shadow cast by the airship is received by the dome.

      • Turn off the Receive Shadow attribute of the dome in 3DXchange, the shadow cast by any object in the scene will not be projected on the dome.

3dXchange receive shadow 3dscene before Shadow

3dXchange receive shadow 3dscene after Shadow

3D Scene receives shadow

Receive Shadow turned off

Note:

  • You may want to change the shadow mode to Self Cast Shadow in the modify page of the light settings to see the casting and receiving result.

  • The Receive Shadow is supported only by the graphic card with NVIDIA chipsets.

Shadow