Is it possible to make an invisible object cast shadows in Cycles in 2.62? If not, perhaps in Luxrender? I am building a CGI background for a photoproject and want to make an invisible approximation of the foreground figure that will cast realistic shadows onto the background scene. I want to replicate the same lights that I am using in the photostudio (softboxes) which is why I want to use Cycles or Luxrender.
On Object Properties (cube icon) Ray visibility - uncheck Camera.
lol…Invisible helium cloud casted dark shadows all over the place… 
Nice cycles bug exploit!
Maybe, Maybe…
Thank you eppo and LuisEBD. I hoped that it would be something simple that I had missed. Very clever rLuisEBD, I experimented with glass but I didn’t understand nodes well enough to find your solution. Now if I could just get text to bevel “upwards” to a sharp line like in photoshop styles I could do the metal lettering on the wall like I want.
Bevel upwards to a sharp line - sounds like simple Extrude parameter, next to Bevel, in Object data panel. Will make letters “grow” upwards without beveling.
Thanks eppo but I did not describe it well. I mean like this http://textuts.com/images/tutorials/stone/stone-final.jpg This is not the right forum for this, I will start a start a new thread in Modelling. Currently text beveling in text mode in Blender “inflates” the outline of the font and destroys the design integrity of the font, applying a bevel modifier does not stop the bevel along the centre line when the bevels from opposite sides overlap.
