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Adding drop shadow to keyed talent
I’m moving my keying platform from Ultra to Keylight, and I miss Ultra’s ease in adding a drop shadow to the keyed subject. I read here a method for doing this – duplicate the keyed layer, fill it, add a blur and drop opacity. So, I’ve got a nice shadow, except that it’s in the same upright position as my talent. How do I lay the shadow down on the floor and change it’s perspective so that it looks natural?
Steve Brame
creative illusions Productions -
4 Replies
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Great…it worked. Excellent learning experience! Thanks!
Steve Brame
creative illusions Productions -
to work quicker there’s a beautiful plugin from image lounge, real shadows
(currently unavailable for CS3) But worth checking for the update if you need this effect regularly.vanderzee.tv
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Radial Shadow works well, too.
But creating a 3D layer of the shadow and letting it interact with the back plane, also set as 3D, is way cooler.bogiesan
This is my standard sigfile so do not take it personally: “For crying out loud, read the freakin’ manual.”
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You can also use a shadow cast from an AE light, which allows for some interesting possibilities such as casting multiple shadows from different angles, animating the lights for moving shadows and adding more natural diffusion to the shadow. The downside is a significant increase in render time.
If you don’t want to affect the layer casting the shadow then here’s your setup:
1) Make your subject layer 3D. In material options set the layer to Casts Shadows – On, Accept Shadows – Off, Accepts Lights – Off.
2) Create a new White Solid and make it a 3D layer, this is the plane that will ‘catch’ your shadow. Set the material options to Casts Shadows – Off, Accepts Shadows – On, Accepts Light – Off.
3) Create a new Point or Spot light. Position it to cast a shadow from your 3D subject onto the white solid. Set light options to Casts Shadows – On and change the Shadow Darkness and Diffusion properties as you like.
4) Set the White Solid to the Multiply blend mode. The white parts of the layer (everything but the shadow) will become transparent and the shadow values will multiply everything behind it.
The most important things to remember with this technique are that the shadow will only appear on the surface of the white solid layer (you may need a big one!) and it is essential that these material options are used: the light and 3d subject must cast shadows, the white solid must accept shadows and not accept lights!
Darby Edelen
Designer
Left Coast Digital
Santa Cruz, CA
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