How to setup a HDRI to get sharp shadows?
You’ll probably need to add a sun lamp. In the pic below I had to add a sun lamp to get the sharp shadow, but used an HDR image to provide ambient light. Use a gamma node in your env shader at 1.5-1.6. Keep in mind it will change a bit your tones.
How to control shadow casting with HDRI render engine?
I Want to light my scene with an HDRI, but control the shadow with an normal lamp. 2 pass rendering (render layers) and compositing do the trick. as commented by @jaroslav-jerryno-novotny (thx), this method produces only black and white shadows where true environment lighting produces colored shadows.
Is there a way to turn off shadows?
Sadly you cannot turn off shadows for emissive material or the world background. You can control the shadows of any object in that objetc’s shaders using the Light path Shadow ray input or by unchecking the Shadow option under Ray visibility in Object panel, but that reacts to all light sources.
How to turn off shadow casting in objetc?
You can control the shadows of any object in that objetc’s shaders using the Light path Shadow ray input or by unchecking the Shadow option under Ray visibility in Object panel, but that reacts to all light sources. The only solution is to use Light primitives, for which you can turn shadows on/off.
Which is more realistic soft or hard shadows?
Figure 3.20 Hard-edged shadows indicate light from a small point source. In many cases, using soft shadows (which are less distinct and fade off toward the edges, as in Figure 3.21) for some of your lights tends to look more realistic than using only hard shadows. Figure 3.21 Soft shadows come from larger light sources.
What kind of light makes a hard Shadow?
Figure 3.25 A small light source (left) makes harder shadows, while larger light sources (right) create softer shadows. Areas lights in some programs are available in a variety of shapes. Common shapes include a line, cylinder, rectangle, disc, and sphere.
What’s the best way to create hard shadows?
To simulate illumination that comes directly from a small, concentrated light source, such as a bare light bulb. To present direct sun on a clear day, which produces hard light. In space scenes, where light reaches objects without being diffused through an atmosphere.