Are these shadows working properly?

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zooropa
Posts: 72
Joined: Sat Mar 28, 2020 10:36 am

Are these shadows working properly?

Post by zooropa »

Hi. I am still working on the same scene. So few of you might recognize the render. I am still trying to find the right light and environment for the renders I want to create for my new furniture.
grid.png
I am really happy with the overall lighting. I might need to add a light close to the really dark areas in the leg. Seem to be a bit contrasting with the overall light.
I am trying to cast shadows of the the grid on the floor, but I do not want to mess with the hdr I am using.
I thought adding an area light to cast those shadows using an artificial light plus the hdr.

I can not manage to have the grid on the floor. I am trying even adding an area light on top of the furniture to test without the hdri and find the shadow...
lightbehavor.jpg
I do not know if I am totally wrong, but it seems to have the inverted effect. The shadow comes from the holes and the light from the grid shape....isnt wrong? I am imagining not cause how in the hell a light will behave opposite...but then if you could explain me what I am doing wrong.
CodeHD
Donor
Donor
Posts: 437
Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2018 12:38 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Are these shadows working properly?

Post by CodeHD »

Yes, that is possible. Depending on the ratio of distances light to table and table to shadow, as well as the size of the light you can get this effect. Effectively, the shadows are so wide/soft that the region of full illumination becomes smaller.

The following drawing illustrates this. Sorry that its a bit crappy, I have to practise with my new pen tablet ;)
shadowlight.png
Actually in this example with a 2D-geometry, it is the corners of the bright regions that are the "full light". The bright lines are simply the regions where there is only one shadow (from the bars in one direction), in the dark regions two shadows overlap.

I attached a simple test scene. Keep increasing the size of the area light from 10 to 60 in steps of 10. You will see the pattern develop
Attachments
tabletest.blend
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zooropa
Posts: 72
Joined: Sat Mar 28, 2020 10:36 am

Re: Are these shadows working properly?

Post by zooropa »

Thank you so much for the clear information!
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