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Shadow map resolution MESS UP!!!
Hi there
I’m currently working on a promo for Discovery Channel. I’ve got a scene consisting of multiple textlayers (placed in front of eachother with a seperation of 1 pixel so to mimic a 3D look…I know about 3D invigorator by the way, this is on purpose)
Problem is that when I’ve got two lights in the scene the intersecting shadows are banding and acting in strange ways…I have tried increasing the shadow map resolution, I have dobblechecked quality settings, I have tried every possibility that I know of…!!
I’m using AE CS3 by the way.
Anyone got an idea?
Hellvik
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6 Replies
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where are you seeing the banding… on the duplicate text layers, or on other layers in the scene. and, are you using the two light sources to shade the ‘3d’ text or to provide a shadow on the other layers in the scene?
i’m trying to figure out if you can limit the shadow casting or receiving properties to over come the problem…
Kevin Camp
Designer – KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW -
Well actually both shading AND shadows dropped on each layer. It is most profound when the camera is up close on the layers.
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if you are seeing the banding only on the duplicate layers, and particularly when the camera is close up, you may be seeing the edges of the layers…
can you easily add more layers and tighten up the spacing at this point? or could you quickly reconstruct the 3d text with adjusted layer spacing…. you can link the spacing offset to a slider on a null, then you’ll have control over the spacing as needed.
Kevin Camp
Designer – KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW -
Hi Kevin
It doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the spacing of the layers as I have tried different positionings…perhaps motionblur can “camouflage” the artifacts! If it doesn’t work out…may I send you a still?
Kind regards
Hellvik -
motion blur may help if the camera or the text is moving… if either are moving quickly, it almost definatley will hide any defects.
you’d be best off to post your image some where rather than send it to me.. that way others can see the problem and they may have a better solution. its always better to have input from multiple people.
if you don’t have a site to post on, there are many free image hosting websites, google will probably return hundreds of them. then just paste a link to your image in your post, and we can all give you help.
Kevin Camp
Designer – KCPQ, KMYQ & KRCW -
I know this is almost a year old by now but we were having the EXACT same problem here and found a work around. I assume you found one too.
We simply went to material options for the problematic layer(s) and turned off the ‘Accept Shadows‘ option. By default it is turned on. Seemed to work every time for us.
You MIGHT be able to remedy this problem by also adjusting the Advanced 3D plugin / shadow map options. Just hit ctrl+K or cmd+K on Mac, and click on the advanced tab. There’s an options button beside the advanced 3D plugin drop down. By default it’s set to Comp which means it will use the Comp’s resolution for your shadow maps. You can however set this to whatever number you want, and I would suggest lowering it until the quality is unacceptable. This should speed up renders too.
Eric Bowman
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