Chaos Corona Forum

Chaos Corona for Cinema 4D => [C4D] I need help! => Topic started by: Philw on 2021-06-10, 19:23:33

Title: Help with Shadowcatcher!
Post by: Philw on 2021-06-10, 19:23:33
I need my shadowcatcher plane to be completely transparent apart from my shadow - but I'm still getting a faint version of the plane geometry in the alpha - I've tried all the different options in the shadowcatcher material. Help! What am I doing wrong? Scene just has a Corona Sky with HDRI lighting the scene. Using latest C4D 7 Daily build on R21.
Title: Re: Help with Shadowcatcher!
Post by: Philw on 2021-06-10, 23:28:35
Guessing what I really need to ask is is there a way to control the opacity of the shadows on the catcher or mask it somehow…? Cheers
Title: Re: Help with Shadowcatcher!
Post by: BigAl3D on 2021-06-11, 05:07:56
One trick you can try is to add a Corona Compositing Tag to the Shadow Catcher object. I think you leave Seen by Camera ON, but turn OFF the others. I think that's right.

The other method is to make your shadow catcher take up the entire view. Think of a studio setup with a floor that curves up into a wall.
Title: Re: Help with Shadowcatcher!
Post by: Philw on 2021-06-11, 07:11:49
Thank you. I couldn't get any combination of the options in the tag to make any difference unfortunately :-(

The issue with filling the plane larger is that the final image is being placed quite small over a tinted background on the printed page so any edges will be visible in the layout. For now I will just paint out a feathered edge in Photoshop so it can blend onto the page.

In Redshift I generally add an opacity mask to the edge of my floor plane matte  too so that my shadows fade out with that - but I couldn't see a way to add any more inputs to the shadowcatcher material in Corona.

Thanks!
Title: Re: Help with Shadowcatcher!
Post by: mmarcotic on 2021-06-14, 09:14:23
Hello,

would it be possible to submit the scene to us via the private uploader? Or at least the hdri so that we can test this internally?

Thanks,
Jan
Title: Re: Help with Shadowcatcher!
Post by: Philw on 2021-06-14, 15:03:50
Yep - no problem.

I think its really a question of managing the shadow spread and therefore its transparency falloff some how.

I'll upload to the private thing.

Cheers,

Phil