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Two questions! How do I fade a shadow in C4D and why is it only rendering 166 frames out of 200??
I’m making an animated logo which has a soft shadow underneath. I want to fade the shadow out when the text comes in. How do I fade the shadow without effecting anything else?
Also when I render it out, its only rendering the first 166 frames instead of the whole 200 and Im not sure why. Can anybody help?
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18 Replies
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I’m new to Cinema 4D myself, but you could animate the Density parameter of the Shadow for your light object(s).
Make sure in your Render Settings that “All Frames” is selected in the Frame Range.
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I managed to work out the frames. Bit strange really – it said it had rendered 166 frames but when I looked it had actually done the whole thing! Thanks for the feedback on that though, I found the ‘all frames’ you mentioned so will be good to know for next time.
Regarding the shadow, do you mean the intensity of the shadow? I tried keyframing this and it didn’t work.
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If, for example, you have a spot light object casting the shadow, with that object selected you should see a “Shadow” attribute under which the “Density” parameter can be animated. I don’t know where the shadow “intensity” parameter is that you are referring to, but again I am new to this.
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I’m using R13, so if you have an earlier version there may be some differences in naming, or differences in just what parameters are available.
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Ah I see where you mean. The intensity was the light source, not the shadow. Still, when I try keyframing the density it wont fade. The shadows either there or not. I’ve tried looking in forums for ways and no joy – I’m starting to think that maybe Cinema 4D cant do it!
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That is a possibility with capabilities as Im using version 11.5
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Interesting.
I have been playing around with a simple scene with some text, one spot light, and a floor. I have the Shadow attribute set to “Shadow Maps (Soft),” and when I animate the Density parameter the shadow fades out appropriately. Are you using R13? How many lights do you have, and are they all set to cast shadows?
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I can fade the light with the density but I want to fade the light whilst its animated. My logo comes in with a shadow which I want to keep there, but then when my text comes in underneath, I want to fade the shadow out so it doesn’t show. The problem I have is fading it out during the animation – maybe using keyframes – only the keyframes dont seem to pick up the change in density.
I only have my main light set to have a shadow, the other lights are set to have none so only the one light will be affecting it.
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It sounds like you have to objects – the logo and the text – which are casting shadows, but you want to fade out the shadow from the text while keeping the shadow from the logo. If that is the case, then you have exceeded my limited knowledge. 😉
Perhaps you will need to render out two animations – one with the logo and its shadow, and one with the text and its shadow fading out – and then composite them in After Effects. Hopefully someone with more expertise can chime in.
Good luck.
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Thanks for your help. Im planning to do the text in after effects as I thought it would be too difficult to do both with the logo shadow fading, plus my text wont be 3d. Maybe I can try a few things in after effects instead.. Anyway, thanks again 🙂
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