Shadows
are the darkened areas that appear on a surface when an object is situated
within the path of a light source. Shadows are cast onto the area
of a surface that receives no direct light. Only the directional
lights cast shadows in Mudbox.
Shadows aid in defining
the three-dimensional appearance of a model, help you evaluate its
form. Shadows add drama to your model and improve the realism of
its appearance.
You need to specify which
lights, if any, cast shadows in your scene, since shadows are not
turned on by default.
- To turn on shadows, first turn on the Cast
Shadows property for a light by doing the following:
- Select the light in the Object
List then edit its properties in the Properties window.
- Right-click the light in the Object
List and select Properties.
- In the Properties window,
open the Shadows category, and turn
on the Cast Shadows property by ensuring
a check mark appears beside the item.
- Turn on the Receive Shadows property
by ensuring a check mark appears beside the item in the material
property. (This property is turned on by default for all materials.)
NoteTurning on the shadow
properties can reduce the interactive performance of Mudbox depending
on the number of lights, materials, and objects in the scene. If
render performance in the 3D View is
slow, set shadows off for all directional lights to see if this
improves performance.
Another visual effect
that enhances the effect of shading in the cracks and crevices of
a model is to turn on the Ambient Occlusion filter
located in the Viewport Filters window. For
more information, see
Apply visual effects.
