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Changing shadow color on an object
Posted: 11 March 2019 03:09 AM   [ Ignore ]  
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I’m trying to achieve the look of how the a cresent moon’s shadow area blends into the atmosphere color. So, I’m changing the shadow color in my Infinite Light, and the shadow color changes the casting onto another object. However, the shadow area of the moon is still black.

How can I get my Moon object shadow area to be a specified color?

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Posted: 11 March 2019 04:18 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 1 ]  
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Hi markfug,

Since I have no scene file from you, I also have no information about what kind of shadow you have.

Natural shadows have no color based on the light source they come from. The color of any shadow is based on secondary lights, and they illuminate the shadow a little bit.
Here is an example, with a light source set to Ambient Illumination (in the Light> Attribute Manager> General Tab). This light is all over the place, and entirely equally.
As a side note (not in the scene file): However, the Project list you can limit its use to some objects. Besides that, it can be limit with a falloff.

Scene file
Set up general
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/m2Ibbj0YYTJ1dS8WmCAvs6DazqQ6zNJZ7W0mjelEFkr
Moon example
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/u6zuObFLPmOQz0y0fNDf7TE1q5qd0Gf0omfgRJHDshl

Let me know if that solves your problem.

All the best

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Dr. Sassi V. Sassmannshausen Ph.D.
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Posted: 11 March 2019 06:11 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 2 ]  
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I was able to get to where I want with the ambient light. I couldn’t get the amb light to match my background color by dialing in the same HSV, however I was able to get the match by using the eye dropper on sampling the shadow on my moon. If I want a specific color, I’ll need to tweak the amb light color instead of the background material’s color.

Adding the ambient light was the way to go, thanks.

See attached for the result was was seeking.

File Attachments
Sky Moon.c4d.zip  (File Size: 30KB - Downloads: 29)
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Posted: 11 March 2019 06:36 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 3 ]  
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Thanks for the kind feedback, markfug, very much appreciated.

Yes, the Background object (nor the Sky) has no idea about some of the channels in a material, nor that it would know what to do with lights.

I have attached a setup where the background object is replaced by a Plane. Since it moves with the camera and is excluded from all but the Ambient light source, it should work. If you chose any other field of view, the size needs to be adjusted. (With a 36mm lens and 36mm wide sensor the width equals the distance to the camera. Just to get an easy starting point.)

Scene file
https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/EPTZGT7g3VFOcGVkll7qzD93wUQnCOyNu3evlcWxHxh

If you change now the color of the Ambient Light, it stays for both.

All the best

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Dr. Sassi V. Sassmannshausen Ph.D.
Cinema 4D Mentor since 2004
Maxon Master Trainer, VES, DCS

Photography For C4D Artists: 200 Free Tutorials.
https://www.youtube.com/user/DrSassiLA/playlists

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