Subject: Re: Modeling text.
From: [email-masked] (Rick Catizone)
To: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 29 Feb 1996 06:04:25 -0800

>On Wed, 28 Feb 1996, Adrian Onsen - ASNG/F94 wrote:

>>      How do you light up some objects in the foreground (i.e. my text)
>> and have them create a dark shadow.

>Don't use real shadows...just put in a copy of your text with a totally
>black surface, no diffusity, no specularity.  You'll be able to position
>the "shadow" exactly where you want it to be.  Maybe even change it's
>thickness to .001 or something very small to flatten out the shadow.

>                                     -David Warner
>                                      [email-masked]
>                                      http://www.albany.net/~dwarner

This is a great suggestion from Dave.  More users should look to the simplest,
time saving tips (read as making more profit) as long as you don't compromise
the quality look that we strive for.

Since Adrian was basically doing a picture, Dave's suggestion is great.
Infact I've done similar things with motion objects.  Other realities such as
type which is rolling slightly or changing perspective in some fashion
necessitate another solution.

In most cases, it really comes done to judiciously watching how you angle your
lights to keep spill off the background, just as you would on any live shoot ,
or miniature rear screen projection composite. Sometimes we ask our lights to
behave in a normal rational manner( such as casting light), and then say to
the light, "Oh, but don't light that other object in your path."

Yet another thing to try in this situation is light falloff on all lights BUT
the one you want to cast the shadow.

RICK CATIZONE/ANIVISION