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1371

Optimizations Rollout 1361

Inter face

Map Size—Sets the resolution of t he shadow map.

The size of the map is the square of this value.

Greaterresolutionsrequiremoretimetoprocess,

but produce more accurate shadows. Default=512.

Sample R ange—When g reater than zero, generates

soft-edged shadows. This value specifies the area

of the map to soften, by removing portions of the

map as specified by Samples. Default=0.0.

IfyousetSampleRangetobegreaterthanzero,

you must also set Samples to be greater than zero,

to obtain a soft shadow effect.

Directional lights require Sample Range to have a

greater va lue than spotlights require.

Samples—Sets the number of samples to remove

from a shadow map when generating soft shadows.

Default=1.

Use Bi as—When on, changes the map bias (page

3–966).Increasingthevaluemovestheshadow

far ther away f rom the shadow cast ing object.

Default=10.

Transparent Shadows group

Enable—When on, shadow maps are sa ved with

multiple Z-layers, and can have transparency.

Default=off.

Co lor—When on, surface color affects the color of

the shadow. Default=on.

Turning off Color saves memory at rendering time.

Merge Dist.—The minimum distance between two

surfaces for them to be considered “distinct.” If two

surfaces are closer than this value, t he shadow map

treats them as a sing le surface. When set to 0.0,

the mental r ay renderer automatically calculates a

distance value to use. Default=0.0 (automatic).

Larger Merge Distance values reduce memory

consumption, but can reduce shadow quality.

Low Merge Distance va lues increase memory

consumption and slow down rendering speed.

Samp./Pixel—The number of samples used to

generate a pixel in the shadow map. Higher v alues

increase the quality and detail of the shadow, at a

cost of render time. Default=5.

If a mapped shadow appears to be aliased (page

3–907),increasethevalueofSamples/Pixel.This

setting is especially useful when shadows are cast

by finely detailed geometr y.

Optimiz ations R oll out

Create panel > Lights > Create a light. > General

Parameters rollout > Select Advanced Ray-traced

Shadows or Area Shadows. > Optimizations rollout

The Optimizations rollout provides additional

controls for Advanced Ray-traced Shadow

(page 3–1000) and Area Shadow (page 3–911)

generation.