Self Cast Shadow Option (New for 5)

When you use the Self Cast Shadow mode, then you are using the so-called shadow map which covers all viewable parts of the scene, to globally calculate the shadow area for all objects that are able to cast a shadow.

Please note that the following parameters are global. You cannot assign different values for different lights in the project.

Resolution

• The values from the drop-down list decide the resolution of the shadow map (indicated by blue lines). The higher the value, the more detailed the shadows will be calculated and presented.

  Resolution = 512 x 512	Resolution = 2048 x 2048

Shadow Bias Adjustment

• This function helps to correct some shadow displacement errors caused by extreme shadow angles.

  Bias = 0	Bias = -3

Shadow Range (Directional Light Only)

• If your scene is very wide and you use the 512 x 512 shadow map for reducing the system strain, then the shadow casted from each object in the scene can be of low-quality and jagged because, by default, the shadow map covers the whole scene in percentage.

  Resolution = 512 x 512 Shadow Range = 100 (%) All shadows in the scene are jagged.

• The shadow maps in iClone are resizable. You may use the Shadow Range feature to scale down the shadow map to increase the shadow details. You may even use the shadow map with lower resolutions.
• This feature is especially useful when you are using a broad scene but only a small area will be shot with the camera. Decrease the shadow range so any objects beyond the range will not cast any shadows when increasing the shadow effect for nearby objects.

  Resolution = 512 x 512 Shadow Range = 30	Resolution = 512 x 512 Shadow Range = 1 No shadow effects outside the range.

• By combining high-resolution shadow maps, appropriate shadow range and shadow blur values; highly-realistic self-cast shadow results can be achieved.

Quality Partition (Directional Light Only)

• The Quality Partition can dynamically adjust the details and quality of all shadows according to the objects' distances from the camera. The variation becomes even more dramatic as the Quality Partition value increases. Hence, you may increase the shadow details of the objects near the camera, with the trade-off of decreasing the clarity of the shadows casted from the objects that are far away.

  Shadow Range = 100 Quality Partition = 0 Equal details for all shadows.	Shadow Range = 100 Quality Partition = 100 Near shadows are more exquisite. Far shadows are rough and jagged.