8

Area Shadows 1005
Scene rende red with a 3D (omni) area light
Thelightusesthedefaultradiusof20.0.
Note: To render soft-edged shadows, shadows
must be ray-traced, not shadow-mapped. See the
Render Scene Dialog > Renderer panel >
Shadows
& Displacement rollout (page 3–111)
.
Area lights support g lobal illumination, caustics,
and other features of the mental ray renderer.
Tip: Area lights take longer to render than point
lights. If you are interested in creating a quick
test (or draft) rendering , you can use the Area
Lights/Shadows As Points toggle to speed up your
rendering. This toggle is on the Render Scene
dialog > Common panel >
Common Parameters
rollout (page 3–27)
.
Area Shadows
The shape of the shadow-casting region changes the shape
of area shadows.
Area shadows simulate shadows generated by a
light with a rea or volume.
Aspect R atio
Various aspect ratios
Aspect r atio describes the proportions of a sti ll
image or the frames in a mov ie, expressed as the