Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 11.52
now the lemon
appears in the
render.
Creating a Shadow Pass
Where are the shadows? If you recall from earlier in this chapter, this scene renders with
shadows; and now some of the shadows, particularly the ones that fall on the column, are
gone. This is because the shadow-casting objects are on different layers than the column.
Shadows can't be cast from one layer onto another. You'll need to create a layer for shad-
ows to composite on top of everything.
Rendering everything in layers requires a workflow in which you essentially assemble
everything in composite after your CG work is done and rendered. Creating a whole ren-
der pass for shadows is one step in this workflow. Just as you created different layers for
the different objects in the scene, you'll create a new render layer to handle a shadow pass.
A
shadow pass
in Maya is a render of only the shadows in the scene.
Keep in mind that this example works with Maya Software rendering and not mental
ray. To create a shadow pass, follow along with these steps:
1. Select all the objects and lights in the scene, and create a new render layer by click-
ing the Create New Layer and Assign Selected Objects
icon (
). Rename the layer
shadowPass
, as shown in Figure 11.53.
2. Select the shadowPass, right-click it in the Layer Editor, and choose Attributes from the
context menu that pops up. In the Attribute Editor, open the Render Pass Options
heading, as shown in Figure 11.54; uncheck the Beauty check box, and check the
Shadow check box.
