Shadow / Matte material available in Blender?

Support Materials and Textures
1

Hi guys and gals,

Is there a material / option similar to this:

http://docs.autodesk.com/3DSMAX/13/ENU/Autodesk%203ds%20Max%202011%20Help/index.html?url=./files/WSf742dab041063133-18033351112a1ce86c6-7ef6.htm,topicNumber=d0e489434

I’ve found the Cast Only option under the material but it it does just that, only casts shadows it does not matte out what is behind it.

I’ve got a scene in which I’ve shot background footage and I’ve built a geometry version of the scene, I now want the objects to cast shadows and block out the objects that are them so it creates a masked render for compositing later.

Any advice really appreciated.

EDIT: Sorry, as soon as I’d posted this I was tinkering with the file and found the solution.

Well I think I have anyway: unchecked Cast only and checked Sky under the materials Options

Tom

2

it will be good then to add a [solved] prefix before your thread.

3

Well I would have agreed with you until last night, I tested this out in one of my scenes and it’s matting out the areas behind the objects with this material applied but I want it to also recieve shadows which is currently not doing. Any ideas?

4

You have to set the masking material to “shadow only” this way it receives only a shadow, set it to z-transparency and work with Z-Masking.

Put your scene on layer 1
Put your mask object on layer 2

Create render layers:
Layer1: Scene 1+2, Layer 1, Mask nothing.
Layer2: Scene 1+2, Layer 2, Mask Layer 1.

Open the node editor, enable nodes for compositing, make the 2 render layers input, and z-combine them.

5

Ahh I see, I had conflicting settings going on.

So for a simple material that mattes out 3d objects behind objects with the material applied and renders out/recieves shadows: simply create a new material and turn on Shadows Only

For those stumbling across this thread in future here is an image of what it does:

MatteTest3_NoSky.jpg1024×576 18.3 KB

This will allow real world objects to sit between 3d objects.

The next question I have is: If you turn on Mirror as well the mirror only appears in the shadow area, do I need to create a secondary pass for reflections or can this be done like the Matte/Shadow material in Max?

I’m trying to create a material for a glossy wooden surface.