Fur Shading/Shadowing attributes

Below are descriptions of the Fur Shading/Shadowing attributes for the selected light’s “lightShape” node in the Attribute Editor. To see these attributes, select the light and open the Attribute Editor (Ctrl+a). If there are no attributes in this section and you are rendering with the Maya Software renderer or the mental ray for Maya renderer, you must add Fur Shading/Shadowing attributes (select Fur > Fur Shadowing Attributes > Add to Selected Light).

Related topics

• Fur shading
• Create fur shading and shadows

  Fur Shading Type

  Select the type of fur shading you want the light to create.

  No Shading

  Disables fur shading effects without removing fur light attribute settings from the light. For information, see No shadows or shading.

  Auto-Shading

  The light creates simple fur shading effects. For information, see Simple fur shading.

  Shadow Maps

  (For spot lights only.) The light creates more realistic shadowing effects on fur and geometry. For information on shadow maps, see Fur depth map shadows.

  Self Shade

  For Auto-Shading type only. Set how far from the root the fur should be shaded. Use the following settings as guidelines:

  0.0

  No self-shading.

  0.0001

  Shadow at the root, linearly progressing to no shading at the tip of the fur.

  0.5

  Full shadow in the lower half, with the upper half linearly progressing to no shading at the tip of the fur.

  1.0

  Full shadow on the entire fur.

  

  Self Shade Darkness

  For Auto-Shading type only. Set the darkness of the self-shaded area. Use the following settings as guidelines:

  0.0

  No shadow, all fur color.

  0.5

  50% black, 50% fur color.

  1.0

  Fully black, no fur color.

  

  Back Shade Factor

  For Auto-Shading type only. Set the power of the falloff curve between lit hairs and non-lit hairs. Use the following settings as guidelines:

  0.0

  No falloff.

  1.0

  Slow falloff.

  2.0

  More natural falloff.

  3.0

  Sharp falloff.

  

  Back Shade Darkness

  For Auto-Shading type only. Set the darkness of the back shadow area. Use the following settings as guidelines:

  0.0

  No shadow.

  0.5

  50% black, 50% fur color.

  1.0

  Fully black shadow, no fur color.

  

  Threshold

  For Shadow Maps only. Set how much of the pixel must be covered by hair before hair depth information is stored in the shadow map. Use this option to prevent very fine hairs from showing up in the shadow map (although it is rare, fine hairs can sometimes cast thick shadows). Use the following settings as guidelines:

  0.0

  Stores a depth value for each pixel of hair that exists in that pixel, no matter how fine the hair.

  0.5

  Only stores hair depth information for pixels that are covered 50% or more by hair.

  Sublight Density

  For area lights only. This option defines the number of point lights that make up an area light. Change this option only if the area lighting on the fur does not match the area lighting on the geometry. This will happen rarely, if ever and typically only with a long, skinny light.

  Intensity Multiplier

  Set the factor by which you want to multiply the light intensity on the fur. For example, if the light intensity is 0.8 and the Intensity Multiplier is 0.5, the light will have an intensity of 0.8 on geometry, but 0.4 on fur. This option is useful for adjusting fur that is too brightly lit.

  NoteThis Intensity Multiplier option is available even if Fur Shading Type is set to No Shading.