Topics - Lighting Basics (Shadows)
Using Lights and Colors to Create Mood and Make a Scene Visible
Shadows are caused by one or more objects interrupting light rays.
When placing light sources in a scene, we are building up the shadows just as much as the lit up sections.
Shadow Angle
Shadow Angle is determined by the location of a light source, relative to an object.
Generally speaking, the area directly behind the object will be lacking rays from the light source, and thus a shadow is created.
Shadow Size
Shadow Size is generally affected by the distance between the light source and the
object creating a shadow.
A light source that is very close to the object (such as a candle) will create a larger shadow.
A light source that is very far from the subject (such as the distance street lights) will
create a smaller shadow.
Shadow Softness
Shadow Softness indicates how hard or soft the cutoff of a shadow is.
It's a concept similar to
Light Softness.
However, while Light Softness is a concept that applies to only specific types of light sources,
Shadow Softness is applicable to all instances where a shadow is made.
Generally speaking, the larger a light source, the softer a shadow is going to be.
The softness is the property that controls how clear (hard) this edge falloff is. A shadow with no softness will have a very crisp, solid edge. A shadow with high softness will have a very fuzzy, blurred edge.
Below are three examples showing the effect of softness.
In all three images, the light source is in the same location with the same intensity. The only thing that's changing is the size of the light.
Shadow Color
Despite what one might think, shadows actually almost always have some amount of color.
Just like lights are almost never pure-white, shadows are almost never pure-black.
There are usually multiple light sources in a scene.
On top of that, light rays have a tendency to bounce around.
The combination means that there are almost always some light rays hitting all surfaces in a scene.
Even the shadows.