Introduction to Maya - Modeling Fundamentals Vol 1
This course will look at the fundamentals of modeling in Maya with an emphasis on creating good topology. We'll look at what makes a good model in Maya and why objects are modeled in the way they are.
# 1 23-04-2008 , 09:57 AM
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Choppy shadows

Hi all,

I've got a point light shining at some polygon modelled characters that are staggered from the source of the light. The shadow being cast from the front character onto the back character is very 'blocky' or 'choppy' (it looks pixelated). I'd like the shadows to be natural and smooth, has anyone got any ideas about how to achieve this?

Thanks.

# 2 23-04-2008 , 10:17 AM
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put your shadow resolution up or use raytraced shadows

Alan


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# 3 23-04-2008 , 10:39 AM
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Thanks for the reply Alan. I've tried doing that already, and playing about with the other attributes in the point light display but nothing is working unfortunately. You would have thought that upping the resolution, ray numbers etc would make the shadows more detailed but it's not in my project.

# 4 25-04-2008 , 01:36 PM
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how are you rendering?

like alan said, if you increase your dmap resolution (don't remember what the default is at but you could probably go to 1024 and not sacrifice render time too much) it should smooth out the blockiness...

you could also increase the dmap filter to a higher number. that won't so much get rid of blockiness but moreso blur it up a bit... try it anyway though.

(oh that's for if you're using depth map shadows on your point light...)


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# 5 06-05-2008 , 01:24 AM
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Neostrider,

Yes, I've tried doing that but no luck. It's only the shadows cast from one character to another that are blocky, which suggests it's something to do with their geometry. They are also referenced from different scenes, does that make a difference?

# 6 07-05-2008 , 12:09 PM
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could ya post a picture to show what you mean?


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