Shadows on Geometry Utility

 OBSOLETE: Applicable to Krakatoa v1.5.1 and earlier.

Shadow Data Location

This group of controls allows you to specify the folder where the Attenuation Maps were saved. The folder is always a sub-folder of the Image Output folder when rendering with Krakatoa and will only be created if the >Save Attenuation Maps When Rendering option is checked.

  • Select Shadows Data Location - this button lets you browse for the folder location using a Path Dialog. Once selected, the path will appear in the text field.
  • Alternatively, you can enter / paste the path from Windows Explorer directly into the text field.
  • The simplest way to specify the path is to get it from the current scene - if Krakatoa just rendered the attenuation maps, pressing the button "Get Shadows Data Location From Render Path..." will enter the correct path into the text field automatically.

Add and Remove Shadows

This group of controls provides the main buttons of the Utility.

  • The large ADD KRAKATOA SHADOWS TO THE SCENE button is disabled by default. It will be enabled when a valid path has been specified in the text field of the "Shadow Data Location" group of controls described above.
    • Pressing the button will scan the scene for Lights that match the Attenuation Map names found in the specified folder and add a Map to the Projector slot of each light that matches. If the Projector slot already contains maps, the Attenuation Map will be blended with them via an RGB Multiply map.
    • Pressing the button again should NOT have any effect because all Krakatoa Attenuation Maps are checked by name and lights that already have them assigned are automatically skipped.
  • The REMOVE Krakatoa Shadows From The Scene button will scan the scene lights for Krakatoa Attenuation Maps in the Projector slots and remove these while keeping any previously assigned maps untouched.

Switch Renderers

This group of controls provides quick ways to switch between Krakatoa and any other 3ds Max Renderer installed on the current system.

  • The current renderer will be listed in the beginning of the Group.
  • Select from the list of installed renderers and press the Assign Renderer button to quickly create a default instance of that renderer. All renderers including Default Scanline, mental ray and any 3rd party renderers except for Krakatoa will be listed.
  • Alternatively, select an existing Render Preset from the second list and press the Load Preset button. This is equivalent to loading a Render Preset from the Render Scene Dialog, but much easier to access.
  • In both cases, a Render Preset with the last Krakatoa settings will be saved automatically for easy return to the original state of the scene - see below.
  • If the current renderer is not Krakatoa, press the RESTORE Krakatoa Renderer button once you have finished working in the other renderer and want to restore the scene back to Krakatoa. Pressing this button will load the Render Preset saved when using either the "Assign Renderer" or "Load Preset" options discussed above. Thus, it is a good idea to always use these methods to switch back and forth between renderers. If the current renderer is Krakatoa, this button will be grayed out.