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cloud shadows on the floor

I'm wondering if it's possible to cast shadows from clouds that are on the HDR?

Otherwise it looks kinda odd with big scenes, where everything is evenly lit.

Thanks for your time

Brahm Boelee
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1 Answers1

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Yes, it is possible. An hdr environment texture is actually just like a sphere with a texture and emission shader assigned to it (kind of). And of course, you are standing in it. So if you have a solid black environment texture (hdr or not), there will be no light in the rendered scene.

So to get shadows on the ground, you would have to have an environment texture with some darker areas that don't emmitt so much light. But I think that it would be easier to just put a plane that would cause a shadow where clouds are.

Something like this would do:

node setup

missy
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  • What about if I added a sort off image that can be used for transparent planes (the high contrast, images normally used for leaves) and dialled back the white? – Brahm Boelee Mar 07 '17 at 16:21
  • That is actually the same thing. The shadow texture for the node setup above would have to be greyscale anyway. – missy Mar 07 '17 at 17:17
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    If you are using an HDRI, you are already getting shadows at the point the still was taken. If you need another object in the distance to not be in shadow, you would need an HDRI from that position, in the harsher light. – troy_s Mar 07 '17 at 21:27