Guild of Writers

While trying to figure out how to get some shadows in my age , I found while reading the .doc file that comes with the plugin
that all the lights from the Plasma runtime should have a option to select and unselect shadows.

Each of the four lights uses the common parameters shown on this panel.
On checkbox - A defined light can be turned off by unchecking this (rather than having to delete it).
Diffuse - The color that's reflected by the object when this light illuminates it. Check the checkbox to enable it, then double-click the color swatch to access the Color Selector and select the reflection color.
Specular - Enable specularity to place a specular highlight on a static object. (To accomplish this, check Specular on your material, unlock the static and runtime colors and set the runtime color to black (this ensures that no diffuse lighting is added to the object - something you don't want for a static object.)
Cast Shadows - This has to be checked if you want the light to cast shadows.
Multiplier - The Multiplier value in every light lets you increase the intensity, or brightness of the light beyond its standard range. You can use negative numbers to reduce the light's intensity.


But for some reason , when i'm using 3dsmax and use one of these lights the " Cast Shadow " box is not even there ....
Does someone know why ?

Thanks !

I can see it fine in Andy's lighting tutorial. To be precise in this picture. It is not called "Cast Shadows", but just plain "Shadows".

I don't have max myself but do I understand correctly that this option automatically creates a lightmap? I remember lightmaps being a pain to make in Blender.

The light that he is talking about is a 3dsmax Omni light , and those shadows will not work in uru since all the dynamic lightning and shadowing is done by a Plasma rune time light ...
See attached image for what I mean .... ( the left is the guide and right 3dsmax )

Many part of the plugin documentation refer to older or newer versions of the plugin. That's why many options are different than what you find in our version of the plugin.
To make a Plasma Runtime Light cast shadows you need to assign to it a separate "Shadow Light" component and adjust its settings. Be sure to set push the "falloff distantance" up. This is the radius (in feet) around the light source in which the shadow will be cast.

the "Multiplier" that you are pointing to in your picture is like the "Energy" setting in Blender. The lower the number, the softer the output.

While Cyan's documents do say to use the Run Time lights sparingly, if you open up the Cleft, Ercana and many of their Ages, you'll find that ALL the lighting is Run Time, heheh

However, to have Run Time lights light up your objects (things other than the Avatar and Kickables) you need to place the RT light in a light group and then assign that same light group to each and every object.

If you open up your component manager, you see if you click on New > Shadows you have 3 things: Shadow Light, Shadow Caster and Shadow Receiver.

I've not played with any of these yet, nor light maps at this time.

The pic below is Zephyr Cove after importing it into Max and using Cyan's plugin to export. EVERYTHING in the scene is lit by RT Lights, not max lights here. I set up the lighting just like the Cleft's lighting. As you can see, there is no shadows however cast on the ground. Only those rocks that cast shadows on themselves.


As I find out more, I'll post a tutorial on it.

The circle I made was not about the multiplier but about the selection box that say's ' Cast Shadow "
Since it seems to be missing on the right picture which is in 3dsmax

I tried using the Shadow Light , Caster and Receiver ... but no luck so far .....
And also the light map function is rather anoying since you have to asign UVW channels for eacht texture ...
And ofcours will it not work for moveable objects such as animations ....
I did succeed in making a sitable today though

andylegate wrote:While Cyan's documents do say to use the Run Time lights sparingly, if you open up the Cleft, Ercana and many of their Ages, you'll find that ALL the lighting is Run Time, heheh

However, to have Run Time lights light up your objects (things other than the Avatar and Kickables) you need to place the RT light in a light group and then assign that same light group to each and every object.

Run Time lights are ok, but it cannot be stressed enough that one should not make these cast shadows except for moving objects. Which is probably what Cyan had in mind there.

Of course all the lights you see when you open a prp file are run time lights... Only runtime lights get exported to the prp file, while any other kind of lights will not be exported to the prp file, and only applied in max prior to export.

Ok , after changing a lot of setting it seems you will get crappy shadows with the Shadow Cast and Shadowrcv components selected on your model ...
But it neets some adjustment to the max omni light , just set the intencity lower ...

Thats how I got it working

One of the best ways to achieve shadows, besides trying to get the lights to caste real time shadows, is the use of things like Lightmaps, Projection Lamps, and the use of stencils and texture painting.

Personally (and this is just my opinion and experience with Age Creation), light maps are best for defining light splashes. Cyan used them in Gahreesen in the training rooms. The key to smooth shadow lines on your light splashes is to make sure the lightmap image you create is high in resolution.

Projection Lamps are best used for having a complex object cast a shadow, like a tree....a picket fence......things like that. Not recommended to have every object casting a shadow hoever.

Using textures and stencils are one of the best ways to achieve the illusion of shadows in a lot of cases. Not every case of course, but you can make things look very good using this technique instead of always relying on the lamps themselves.
A good example of this: Wall Lamps that cast a V splash. It can be easier to take the texture of the wall in your paint program, and actually use the paint the light onto the texture. There are a LOT of features in your paint program that will let you do this, and it will come out looking very good in your Age.