Away3D Forum Shadows only

Baush, Sr. Member
Posted: 29 November 2013 10:12 PM Total Posts: 135

Hello everyone, is it possible to display shadow on a surface that is transparent? I can generate shadows fine on a ColorMaterial, but when I set it’s alpha to 0 the shadow disappears as well (expected).

Is it possible to get “shadows only” material?

Thanks for your time!

-Matt

Mu Duck, Newbie
Posted: 29 November 2013 11:48 PM Total Posts: 20 [ # 1 ]

Well a stupid solution can be to set alpha to 1, but assign a TextureMaterial with a transparent PNG texture.

Baush, Sr. Member
Posted: 30 November 2013 12:58 AM Total Posts: 135 [ # 2 ]

Thanks I’ll give it a try!

Baush, Sr. Member
Posted: 30 November 2013 01:06 PM Total Posts: 135 [ # 3 ]

Same result as with the ColorMaterial.. The shadow won’t appear. I suspect the shadow to affect the pixels of the texture, so if they are invisible, so is the shadow. Any other ideas?

Thanks

John Brookes, Moderator
Posted: 01 December 2013 06:02 PM Total Posts: 732 [ # 4 ]

Use a white material and BlendMode.MULTIPLY

Baush, Sr. Member
Posted: 04 December 2013 05:54 PM Total Posts: 135 [ # 5 ]

No luck with the BlendMode either, it just becomes all transparent.

Note that I also use a transparent view background to get full transparency.

Here’s some of my code if it helps:

view.camera.lens = new OrthographicLens(2.4);
  view.camera.lens.near = 0;
  view.camera.lens.far = 150;
  view.camera.position = new Vector3D(100, 60, 0);
  view.camera.lookAt(new Vector3D(0, 1, 0));

  sunLight = new DirectionalLight(-0.1, -1, 0.1);

  var shadowMapper:NearDirectionalShadowMapper = new NearDirectionalShadowMapper(1);
  shadowMapper.autoUpdateShadows = true;
  sunLight.shadowMapper = shadowMapper;

  sunLight.diffuse = 0.3;
  sunLight.ambient = 0.9;
  sunLight.specular = 0;
  sunLight.color = 0xFFFFFF;
  sunLight.ambientColor = 0xFFFFFF;

  light = new StaticLightPicker([sunLight]);
  view.scene.addChild(sunLight);

  defaultBackground = new BitmapTexture(new BitmapData(32, 32, true, 0x00000000));
  view.background = defaultBackground; 

var floorMaterial:ColorMaterial = new ColorMaterial(0xFFFFFF, 1);
   floorMaterial.blendMode = BlendMode.MULTIPLY;
   var shadowMapMethod:FilteredShadowMapMethod = new FilteredShadowMapMethod(sunLight);
   shadowMapMethod.epsilon = 3;
   floorMaterial.shadowMethod = shadowMapMethod;
   floorMaterial.lightPicker = light;

   floor = new Mesh(new PlaneGeometry(2, 2), floorMaterial);
   view.scene.addChild(floor); 

John Brookes, Moderator
Posted: 04 December 2013 06:12 PM Total Posts: 732 [ # 6 ]

BlendMode will blend with whatever is behind it.
If your view color is black you wont see the effect.

So either lighten your back ground color or place another plane just behind your shadowplane.

Shadows only Software: Away3D 4.x

Baush, Sr. Member Posted: 29 November 2013 10:12 PM Total Posts: 135 Hello everyone, is it possible to display shadow on a surface that is transparent? I can generate shadows fine on a ColorMaterial, but when I set it’s alpha to 0 the shadow disappears as well (expected). Is it possible to get “shadows only” material? Thanks for your time! -Matt
Mu Duck, Newbie Posted: 29 November 2013 11:48 PM Total Posts: 20 [ # 1 ] Well a stupid solution can be to set alpha to 1, but assign a TextureMaterial with a transparent PNG texture.
Baush, Sr. Member Posted: 30 November 2013 12:58 AM Total Posts: 135 [ # 2 ] Thanks I’ll give it a try!
Baush, Sr. Member Posted: 30 November 2013 01:06 PM Total Posts: 135 [ # 3 ] Same result as with the ColorMaterial.. The shadow won’t appear. I suspect the shadow to affect the pixels of the texture, so if they are invisible, so is the shadow. Any other ideas? Thanks
John Brookes, Moderator Posted: 01 December 2013 06:02 PM Total Posts: 732 [ # 4 ] Use a white material and BlendMode.MULTIPLY
Baush, Sr. Member Posted: 04 December 2013 05:54 PM Total Posts: 135 [ # 5 ] No luck with the BlendMode either, it just becomes all transparent. Note that I also use a transparent view background to get full transparency. Here’s some of my code if it helps: view.camera.lens = new OrthographicLens(2.4); view.camera.lens.near = 0; view.camera.lens.far = 150; view.camera.position = new Vector3D(100, 60, 0); view.camera.lookAt(new Vector3D(0, 1, 0)); sunLight = new DirectionalLight(-0.1, -1, 0.1); var shadowMapper:NearDirectionalShadowMapper = new NearDirectionalShadowMapper(1); shadowMapper.autoUpdateShadows = true; sunLight.shadowMapper = shadowMapper; sunLight.diffuse = 0.3; sunLight.ambient = 0.9; sunLight.specular = 0; sunLight.color = 0xFFFFFF; sunLight.ambientColor = 0xFFFFFF; light = new StaticLightPicker([sunLight]); view.scene.addChild(sunLight); defaultBackground = new BitmapTexture(new BitmapData(32, 32, true, 0x00000000)); view.background = defaultBackground; `var floorMaterial:ColorMaterial = new ColorMaterial(0xFFFFFF, 1); floorMaterial.blendMode = BlendMode.MULTIPLY; var shadowMapMethod:FilteredShadowMapMethod = new FilteredShadowMapMethod(sunLight); shadowMapMethod.epsilon = 3; floorMaterial.shadowMethod = shadowMapMethod; floorMaterial.lightPicker = light; floor = new Mesh(new PlaneGeometry(2, 2), floorMaterial); view.scene.addChild(floor);`
John Brookes, Moderator Posted: 04 December 2013 06:12 PM Total Posts: 732 [ # 6 ] BlendMode will blend with whatever is behind it. If your view color is black you wont see the effect. So either lighten your back ground color or place another plane just behind your shadowplane.

Shadows only

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