Ray Traced Shadows - ArchVision®

Using the Shadow Plug-in Introduction

The RPC Shadow Light Plug-in was developed by ArchVision to provide users with an easy method of quickly implementing projection map shadows. Shadows for stills or animations are only a few clicks away with the RPC Shadow Light, which acts independent of other lights in your scene.

Locating the RPC Shadow Light

The RPC Shadow Light (for 3ds max and Autodesk Viz) is located under the lights menu on the Create tab of the Command panel. Once RPC is selected from the drop down menu, an Object Type rollout will appear with an RPC Shadow button.

The RPC Shadow Light can be added to a scene by clicking the RPC Shadow button. When inserted into a scene, the shadow light will resemble a standard Target Direct light. The RPC Shadow Light moves, rotates, scales, and works with other tools in a way which is similar to any standard light source, although its options in the Modify Panel are vastly different. It is also possible to configure a View from the RPC Shadow Light.

Using the RPC Shadow Light

The following steps will acquaint you with the process of implementing the RPC Shadow Light in your scene:

Step 1:Begin by placing the RPC Shadow Light in the scene at the same location as your primary light source.

Step 2:Next, adjust the Hotspot so that the box drawn by the light covers all of your RPCs.

Step 3:While the RPC Shadow Light in the scene is selected, go to the Modify Tab and click Include RPCs. Choose the desired RPCs to include in the light from the list of Scene RPCs and click the arrow buttons on the dialog to move the content to the Included RPCs list. Then click OK.

Step 4:Shadows must be generated prior to rendering the scene. This function is provided in the Generate Shadows menu, which is opened by clicking on the Generate Shadows button in the RPC Shadow Light Commands dialog.

If the rendered scene is a still, or if only the camera moves, then select Static Shadows as the Shadow Type and Single as the Render Frames setting. Next, select Files and specify a location to save the JPG shadow file. Finally, select Generate Shadows to create the shadows that will be used in the rendered scene.

If the scene is an animation where the lights or the RPCs move, then it will be necessary to select Animated Shadows as Shadow Type. If Active Time Segment is selected as the Render Frames option, then all frames designated in the Time Configuration dialog will be rendered. By selecting Range, you may specify which frame values should have RPC Shadows rendered.

Finally, select Generate Shadows to render the shadow maps for the light. The next time you render your scene, you will see the RPC shadows.

The RPC Shadow Light Modify Panel

It is possible to change the parameters of the RPC Shadow Light to modify the appearance of the shadows through the Modify Panel. The following information explains the various options available:

Resolution: Increasing this value increases the sharpness of the shadow, lowering the value will make the shadow more blurry.

Hotspot: Changing the Hotspot value adjusts the area that is affected by the light.

Multiplier: This value affects the intensity of the shadow. The more negative the number the darker the shadow will be.

Include RPCs: Allows you to select which RPCs from the scene will be affected by the Shadow Light.

Generate Shadows: Accesses the options for creating RPC shadow map(s) for the scene.

Map Location: Displays the directory path where the Shadow Projection Maps are stored.

Update License: This button is used to access/update the license information stored by the ArchVision Content Manager (ACM). Normally, this feature is only required when the location of the ACM has changed.

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