3DS MAX strange shadowing help

pez_11

Hey guys what's up,

Iv got to the rendering stage of a project that I am currently working on for University, but when I watched back the clips they all seem to have this strange shadowing effect above the buildings.

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I have tried everything I can think of to stop this but I really dont know anything about lighting, for all I know it could be a common problem?

I have tried excluding it from the light source (sunlight system in 3DS Max)
Iv tried changing maps and self illumination,
I have tried including and excluding it from shadowing, I am really stumped here.


Im open to any suggestions at all to stop this, Its really screwing up 6/7 of my scenes



Cheery guys
www.perrystringer.com

AlexLeighton

Are you using a skydome? It looks like there might be z-fighting on the sky, maybe from a duplicate skydome. If that isn't it, could you possibly post screenshots of your scene with all lights visible and such?

pez_11

Hey Alex,

Yer I have a skydome in my scene, I hope this screen helps, if you need somthing a bit more specific let me know and ill try to help,



cheers

JonathanLambert

Rendering the sky as a separate pass will fix your problem and will give you more flexibility if you decide you want to change the BG.

pez_11

@JonathanLambert -

Hey thanks for the reply. Apart from modelling/texturing I don't really know much else when it comes to lighting/rendering ect
So I am sorry if this is a bit of a stupid question but how exactly would I go about doing that?
And would it still work alright considering its a clip and not a still image?
Also would I have to composite them together at all in after effects for example?

Thanks again!

Ken Benson

First things I'd check:
Self illuminated skydome material
Skydome is excluded from your lights

GL!

sprunghunt

When you say you've excluded it from shadowing does that mean you've turned off 'cast shadows' in the object properties of the skydome?

pez_11

Hey guys

@ Ken Benson - Iv experiments with the self illumination untill I was blue in the face, 100%, 0%, using maps ect but still no luck I also tried excluding it from my light source.

@ sprunghunt - yes sorry that is what i meant, i have disabled the dome from receiving and casting shadows but still no luck.



Due to the deadline for this project being in the next few weeks Iv finally had to start rendering it all out with the problem still happening, I have just modified some of the camera angles to show of as little of the sky as possible. I really appriciate all the help everyone has given me to try and sort this problem.
If anyone wants me to try out a few more things Ill give them a go just for future referance incase it happens again.


Thanks again guys, check out my site in the next few weeks if any of you are interested in seeing the final result, www.perrystringer.com
thanks again everyone!!