The VRayShadow plug-in can be used to achieve
raytraced shadows with standard 3ds Max lights and V-Ray. Note that in most
cases the standard 3ds Max Ray Traced Shadows will
not work with V-Ray. You must use the VRayShadow
shadow generator instead. In addition to supporting blurry (or area)
shadows, they will also cast correct shadows from objects with V-Ray
displacement, as well as from transparent objects.
![[VRayShadow parameters]](vray_for_3ds_max_manual/vrayshadow_parameters/shadows.png)
Transparent shadows - this option
determines the behaviour of the shadows when there are transparent objects
in the scene. When this option is on, V-Ray will calculate shadows
regardless of the light's Object Shadows settings (Color, Density, Map,
etc.), however the color of shadows from transparent objects will be
correct. When this option is off, the shadows will take into account the
Object Shadows parameters of the light, but shadows from transparent objects
will be monochromatic (shades of gray only).
Smooth surface shadows - turning this on
will cause V-Ray to try and avoid blocky shadows that may occur on low-poly
objects. Currently this does not work very well for long thin faces.
Bias - optionally, V-Ray can compute the
shadows at a point that is slightly displaced towards the light from the
actual surface being shaded. This may be useful to prevent "surface acne"
(black spots on the surface because of incorrect self-shadowing).
Area shadow - turns area shadows on and
off.
Type - determines the way in which the
area shadows are calculated:
Box - V-Ray computes the shadows as
if they were cast by a light source with the form of a box.
Sphere - V-Ray computes the shadows
as if they were cast by a light source with the form of a sphere.
U size - the U size of the light source
V-Ray takes into account when computing area shadows (if
Sphere light source is selected U size corresponds to the sphere's
radius).
V size - the V size of the light source
V-Ray takes into account when computing area shadows (this parameter has no
effect when Sphere light source is selected).
W size - the W size of the light source
V-Ray takes into account when computing area shadows (this parameter has no
effect when Sphere light source is selected).
Subdivs - this value controls the number
of samples V-Ray will take to compute area shadows at a given point. More
subdivs mean less noise, but will render slower.
