User Manual

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Softness Falloff: The Softness Falloff slider appears when the Softness is set to
variable. This slider controls how fast the softness of shadow edges grows with
distance. More precisely, it controls how fast the shadow map filter size grows based
on the distance between shadow caster and receiver. Its effect is mediated by the
values of the Min and Max Softness sliders.
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Min Softness: The Min Softness slider appears when the Softness is set to variable.
This slider controls the Minimum Softness of the shadow. The closer the shadow is to
the object casting the shadow, the sharper it is up to the limit set by this slider.
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Max Softness: The Max Softness slider appears when the Softness is set to variable.
This slider controls the Maximum Softness of the shadow. The farther the shadow is
from the object casting the shadow, the softer it is up to the limit set by this slider.
Common Controls
Transform and Settings Tabs
The remaining Transform and Settings tabs are common to many 3D nodes. Their descriptions
can be found in “The Common Controls” section at the end of this chapter.
Renderer 3D [3RN]
The Renderer3D node
Renderer 3D Node Introduction
The Renderer 3D node converts the 3D environment into a 2D image using either a default
perspective camera or one of the cameras found in the scene. Every 3D scene in a composition
terminates with at least one Renderer 3D node. The Renderer node includes a software and
OpenGL render engine to produce the resulting image. Additional render engines may also be
available via third-party plug-ins.
The software render engine uses the system’s CPU only to produce the rendered images. It is
usually much slower than the OpenGL render engine, but produces consistent results on all
machines, making it essential for renders that involve network rendering. The Software mode is
required to produce soft shadows, and generally supports all available illumination, texture, and
material features.
The OpenGL render engine employs the GPU processor on the graphics card to accelerate the
rendering of the 2D images. The output may vary slightly from system to system, depending on
the exact graphics card installed. The graphics card driver can also affect the results from the
OpenGL renderer. The OpenGL render engines speed makes it possible to provide customized
supersampling and realistic 3D depth of field options. The OpenGL renderer cannot generate
soft shadows. For soft shadows, the software renderer is recommended.
Chapter – 80 3D Nodes 1690