INSIDE 3DS MAX® 7 [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

1.

Make sure the Camera01 viewport is active; then render the scene. The directional light washes out the right wall and does not cast any shadows from the left wall (Figure 12.17).

2.

Select the directional light, then open the Modify panel. In the General Parameters rollout, click the On check box in the Shadows area (Figure 12.18). Notice that Shadow Map is the chosen shadow type. This will force the light to consider the left wall and window opening in the shadow calculations. Render the Camera01 viewport to see how this looks.

Even these quick and basic shadows make a world of difference in the scene (Figure 12.19). The illumination of the right wall, except the area lit by the light through the window, now matches that of the left wall, which is lit only by the omni light. The shadows cast by the tree are much too pixelated (low in resolution) and need to be smoothed out a bit.

3.

With the directional light still selected, expand the Shadow Map Params rollout (Figure 12.20). The Size value refers to the image size, in pixels, of the map applied to the shadowed area. Larger Size values result in finer, more detailed shadows, at the cost of higher RAM consumption. The Sample Range determines the softness of the shadow's perimeter. Higher Sample Range values will result in softer shadow edges. Set the Size value to 1024 and the Sample Range value to 5, then render the scene again (Figure 12.21).

The shadows are much finer now, especially near the top of the tree where the fronds are spread out.

4.

The directional light in this scene represents sunlight. What if the light coming through the window comes from a car's headlights or a spotlight? Go back to the General Parameters rollout, and in the Light Type section, expand the drop-down and choose Spot to convert your directional light to a spotlight with the same parameters. The new shadows are more spread out than before because of the divergence of the spotlight rays (Figure 12.22). Notice how long the shadow from the top of the pot has become and how the area illuminated by the window is now expanded to an area outside the image.

5.

Switch the light back to a directional light.

6.

Right-click in the viewport and choose Unhide by Name from the Quad menu. In the Unhide Objects dialog, choose CasementWindow01, then click Unhide to reveal the hidden window linked to the wall (Figure 12.23). Render the scene again.

1.

Select the window and apply an Edit Poly modifier to the top of the modifier stack.

2.

Activate the Polygon sub-object level. In the Modify panel's Polygon Properties rollout, enter 3 in the Select ID field, then click the Select ID button. This will select the 12 polygons that make up the glass panels (Figure 12.24). Click the Settings button next to the Detach button in the Edit Geometry rollout and name the new object Glass Panels.

Note

The glass panels are no longer a part of the CasementWindow object. If you go lower in the stack and adjust any values (Open, Width, and so on) at the object's base level that change the layout or position of the window, the panels will not be included. If the window must be animated to open and close, consider breaking the panels into separate left and right objects and using an Attachment controller to keep them in place.

3.

Exit the Polygon sub-object level. Select the directional light; then, in the General Parameters rollout, click the Exclude button to open the Exclude/Include dialog (Figure 12.25). The Exclude/Include dialog tells the light which objects it should or should not illuminate and which objects it can use to cast shadows. Highlight the Glass Panels entry in the left window, then click the ">>" button to move it to the right window. Make sure Exclude is selected in the top right corner, as well as Shadow Casting. The directional light will now illuminate the glass surfaces, but they will not generate shadows.

4.

Render the scene one more time. You'll see that the glass panels are now ignored and the light passes through them and onto the tree and wall (Figure 12.26).

1.

Select the directional light, and change its shadow type from Shadow Map to Ray Traced Shadows. Activate the Camera01 viewport, and render the scene. The shadows from the tree and the window opening are much sharper than in the previous renderings (Figure 12.27).

Even with a reflective floor, this corner is still too dark. The main light is coming through the window, but the left wall is blocking the majority of the illumination, causing that wall's shadows to be cast onto the right wall. Let's lighten the room up a bit.

2.

In the Modify panel, open the directional light's Shadow Parameters rollout. Click the color swatch; then, in the Color Selector, choose (122, 122, 122), a medium gray. Render the scene (Figure 12.28). The shadowsand, as a result, the room in generalare a little lighter.

Ray Traced Shadows can pick up the color from translucent objects and filter that color into the scene. This works with images and simple colors applied to those objects.

3.

Open the Material Editor and select the Window material. In the Multi/Sub-Object Basic Parameters rollout, click the Panels button to open the parameters for sub-object 3, which controls the glass panels. In the Blinn Basic Parameters rollout, click the Diffuse color swatch and choose a pale blue color such as (176, 166, 251). Open the Extended Parameters rollout, and drag and drop the Diffuse color swatch onto the Filter color swatch. Choose Copy in the dialog that opens (Figure 12.29). Render the Camera01 viewport, and compare your results (Figure 12.30).

Tip

The Reflectance and Transmittance information, shown in the Material Editor in Figure 12.29, can be activated under the Radiosity tab of the Preference Settings dialog.

4.

In the Material Editor, select the Window With Color material and apply it to the CasementWindow object. This is the same as the Window material, but with a map applied to the Diffuse Color map channel. Render the scene. The map appears in the windows, but the color is not carried onto the wall because the Filter color is not yet set to accept the map.

5.

Open the Maps rollout, then drag and drop the Diffuse Color map button onto the Filter Color map button and choose Instance in the Copy (Instance) Map dialog. To help bring out the stained glass borders, darken the shadow's color in the Shadow Parameters rollout. Then render the scene. Figure 12.31 shows the scene with the mapped panels' colors being filtered onto the wall and the plant.

1.

Render the scene to get a good reference image before we start changing the light's parameters. The spotlight casts shadows from the plant and pot onto the walls and floor. In the Rendered Frame Window, click the Clone Rendered Frame Window button to create a copy to compare with future renderings.

2.

Select the spotlight (Omni01) and change its shadow type from Shadow Map to Area Shadows. Render the scene. You'll notice that your render times have increased and that the shadows from the tree are more diffuse than before but much too pixelated to be appealing. Figures 12.32 and 12.33 show the scene before and after area shadows were applied.

3.

In the Modify panel's Area Shadows rollout, expand the drop-down list in the Basic Options section and ensure that Rectangle Light is selected. This will create the shadows as if the light source were a plane rather than a point. Increase both the Length and Width in the Area Light Dimensions section to 5 feet 0 inches.

4.

The soft area around the shadow's perimeter, called the penumbra, showcases the versatility of area shadows. Controls for Area Shadow settings are located in the Antialiasing Options rollout. Set the Shadow Integrity to 10 to increase the number of rays that are cast from each shadow-casting surface to each shadow-receiving surface. Increase the Shadow Quality value to 15 to raise the number of rays cast into the penumbra; this defines its edges more accurately. Set the Sample Spread to 4 to soften the edge a bit, and set the Jitter Amount to 0.4 to change the structured initial ray locations to a more random pattern. This will cause artifacts that have been created to be converted into less noticeable noise in the shadows (Figure 12.34).