basic light question

[Darby Edelen]

It sounds to me like your shadow darkness value is at something below 100%.

Logically in the natural world if no light is able to get around the front layer then no light should hit the layers behind it, but this isn’t the way AE handles things.

The reason the layers in the rear dim when you enable ‘Accepts Shadows’ is that they are accepting shadows, but those shadows are much lighter than you are expecting them to be.

Try offsetting the light to the left side of the layers so half of the beam hits the rear layers unobstructed and half is obstructed by the front layer, you’ll immediately see the issue. If you increase the Shadow Darkness property of the light to 100% then no light will ‘shine through.’

Darby Edelen
DVD Menu Artist
Left Coast Digital
Aptos, CA

[Kevin Camp]

i can’t send the project (at home now)… the shadows in my test comp were 100% (as darby mentioned).

but i was also thinking about possible issues with opengl. is opengl enabled in the previews preference? if so try disabling it. you may also want to check the advnced tab in the your comp setings and make sure you’re not using opengl there for 3d rendering.

Kevin Camp
Designer – KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW