Matte Shadow

Hi,
Is it possible to make a matte shadow effect, like 3DS Max's "matte shadow" material.

I want to create realtime shadows on a background image/movie.


Regards
ern

 

I don't use Max so I'm not sure what a "matte shadow" is, perhaps something like Unity's "blob shadow"?
http://unity3d.com/support/documentation/Components/class-Projector.html

 

@bigkahuna,
thanks for your reply, I don't think "blob shadows" apply to what im trying to do, which is this...

I have a background picture of a room(foto)and i want my furniture(the furniture can be moved around.) to cast realtime shadows on to the floor.

If it was a max rendering, I would make a 3D floor and apply a "matte shadow" material. And then the 3D floor will recive shadows and project them onto the background picture, the 3D floor element itself is invisible.

Or like in this movie, the ground plane has a matte material that allows it to be invisible, and yet receive shadows…this way it looks like the
background 2D movie receives shadows from the 3D elements:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5IDEe2UQfM

Regards
ern

 

In Unity there are only three ways to make shadows (that I know of at least):

1. Baked shadows and added to a lightmap shader (not move-able).

2. Blob shadows (which I already discussed).

3. Real-time light based shadows (Unity Pro only feature):
http://unity3d.com/support/documentation/Manual/Shadows.html

 

It is not as much the shadows, as it is the object the shadows hits.
that object must be invisible, and only show shadows in areas where shadows are applied in realtime.

so the question is Can such a shader be made???

ern

 

Hi, it may be a little too late, but I jsut see your post. I found what you search for to "emulate" the Matte Shadow effect of 3DS Max. It's the DephtMask shader in the ShaderLab part of the wiki. You can follow these links:

http://www.unifycommunity.com/wiki/index.php?title=DepthMask
http://forum.unity3d.com/viewtopic.php?t=16305&highlight=depth+mask

I don't know if the shadows are casted with this shader, since I'm using Indie version, but I think that would help many people like us who are familiar with the Matte Shadow effect :wink:

 

I didn't get the idea how to use depth shader to emulate matte shadow effect, so I'm also interested in a way to do it

 

I tried to make a Matte Shadow shader, as I can't see how the depth mask (as someone proposed) is a solution to this.
It's working as the one in 3ds max. It's probably buggy in some situations. I didn't get it to work witout making a horrible outline on other objects recieving shadows, when they are drawn against the matte shadow object.
If you remove "Recieve shadows" from the objects which will cast shadows on the Matte shadow plane, the ugly outline disappears. My knowledge of the actual workings of this stuff is still rather limitied.
The strength of the shadow is controlled by the darkness of the main color of the shader.

This works fine enough for many situations, I guess

 

Nice Kragh, was looking for this, thanks!

 

Nice shader Kragh! It would be great to have it working with Unity3. Anyone?

 

is this the thing you need? http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/64...actual-object.?p=422023&viewfull=1#post422023

 

Thanks Kragh, work just as I had hoped; however, is there possibly a way to control the hard/softness of the shadows? I opened up the shader, but as an artist, I couldn't make heads or tails of it. Either way it still rocks. Thanks again

 

Does this even work in U3? I'm sure it doesn't
I haven't checked this thread for ages, thought it would never become active...
I could probably throw one together working a lot more reliable than this (and for U3), as my knowledge of the stuff has increased since. As for this shader, you would control the softness by changing the lights shadow type to soft. But if I remember correctly, it presented some crappy outlining effect of the shadow, so I don't think is useful to you.

 

Actually, I'm currently using v2.6. Sorry I forgot to specify that in my previous post. I took your advice and disabled the "receive shadows," which does eliminate the weird outline, but it also disables any and all casted shadows on the object itself (as I'm sure you are probably already aware). Anyways, at the moment I'm trying to find away around this, but have yet to succeed. At the moment I'm experimenting with the "cutout" transparency shader but it appears that when something is transparent it does not receive shadows.

 

Can you texture your floor to match the background in max?

Or you can feed screen position into the uv input of your texture to make a a texture that is locked to your camera view. Not sure how to handle the shading.

 

Hi, If you are willing, I'd like to ask if you could make a version that works in U3. Shaders in Unity really blow my mind

 

EDIT: Doesn't work, really. Need to have another object below it, which receives shadows. Or it won't work. Really buggy solution, don't use it for now!! But I may get back to it, if I find the time...


The surface system REALLy hate me trying to do this, so this was the best I could come up with (without going deeper into the shadow caster functions directly). There's a lot of stuff going on behind the scene in surface shaders.
If I do not set the alpha to 0 (or just don't set it, as I did in this), it is not possible to do anything with the alpha part of the lighting function, at least not using the "atten" property, which contain shadow information. But if set to 0, the Albedo part will be ignored.

So, this works, somewhat. But the shadow can't be tinted using the color property. Hope this will be enough for your needs, I can't use more time on it at the moment.
Beware the mainTex is not used for anything. It's only there because removing it from the input struct, gave problems. Can't have no inputs!!! But what to input? So I just left it there... Somebody else can clean it up, if needed

Code (csharp):

1. Here was a shader that didn't work yet, sorry

 

Ok, so this is just crappy. But I can't leave you with that last post This works, if you live with its limits. This can't be done without going deeper into how shadows work in the shadow caster functions, which are built in.
This will receive shadows, but it will double the shadow intensity, if the is an object below which also receives shadows. Very funny, have no idea what goes on But go ahead, if it works for some purposes,

Code (csharp):

1. Shader "FX/Matte Shadow" {
2.  
3. Properties {
4.  
5.     _Color ("Main Color", Color) = (1,1,1,1)
6.  
7.     _MainTex ("Base (RGB) Trans (A)", 2D) = "white" {}
8.  
9.     _Cutoff ("Alpha cutoff", Range(0,1)) = 0.5
10.  
11. }
12.  
13.  
14.  
15. SubShader {
16.  
17.     Tags {"Queue"="AlphaTest" "IgnoreProjector"="True" "RenderType"="TransparentCutout"}
18.  
19.     LOD 200
20.  
21.     Blend Zero SrcColor
22.  
23.    
24.  
25. CGPROGRAM
26.  
27. #pragma surface surf ShadowOnly alphatest:_Cutoff
28.  
29.  
30.  
31.  
32.  
33. fixed4 _Color;
34.  
35.  
36.  
37. struct Input {
38.  
39.     float2 uv_MainTex;
40.  
41. };
42.  
43.  
44.  
45. inline fixed4 LightingShadowOnly (SurfaceOutput s, fixed3 lightDir, fixed atten)
46.  
47. {
48.  
49.    
50.  
51.     fixed4 c;
52.  
53.    
54.  
55.     c.rgb = s.Albedo*atten;
56.  
57.     c.a = s.Alpha;
58.  
59.     return c;
60.  
61. }
62.  
63.  
64.  
65.  
66.  
67. void surf (Input IN, inout SurfaceOutput o) {
68.  
69.     fixed4 c = _Color;
70.  
71.     o.Albedo = c.rgb;
72.  
73.     o.Alpha = 1;
74.  
75. }
76.  
77. ENDCG
78.  
79. }
80.  
81.  
82.  
83. Fallback "Transparent/Cutout/VertexLit"
84.  
85. }
86.  

 

Hi,

Thanks for doing this. However, I can't get this to display correctly, It renders the shadow and everything else is the colour of the skybox. It seems to not take underlying objects into account. Any idea?

-Gungnir

 

Do you have a screen shot of it?

 

Sent you a pm.

 

You could write a shader to render the shadow map yourself into a rendertexture then use projective texturing onto your geometry (or use a projector).

Admittedly a fairly complicated way to do it, but at least then you're not fighting engine code you can't change.

 

have problem , the light can be got, but the shadow didnt ,

 

Kragh, your shader helped me a LOT!
Just had to revive this super old topic to say thanks.

 

I know this is old, but Kragh, thanks! Great stuff.

 

Yeah, this is very cool. I've modified it a bit to for shadow color and intensity settings:

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. Shader "FX/Matte Shadow" {
3. Properties {
4.     _Color ("Shadow Color", Color) = (1,1,1,1)
5.     _ShadowInt ("Shadow Intensity", Range(0,1)) = 1.0
6.     _Cutoff ("Alpha cutoff", Range(0,1)) = 0.5
7. }
8.  
9.  
10. SubShader {
11.     Tags {
12.         "Queue"="AlphaTest"
13.         "IgnoreProjector"="True"
14.         "RenderType"="TransparentCutout"
15.     }
16.     LOD 200
17.     ZWrite off
18.     Blend zero SrcColor
19.  
20. CGPROGRAM
21. #pragma surface surf ShadowOnly alphatest:_Cutoff
22.  
23. fixed4 _Color;
24. float _ShadowInt;
25.  
26. struct Input {
27.     float2 uv_MainTex;
28. };
29.  
30. inline fixed4 LightingShadowOnly (SurfaceOutput s, fixed3 lightDir, fixed atten)
31. {
32.     fixed4 c;
33.     c.rgb = lerp(s.Albedo, float3(1.0,1.0,1.0), atten);
34.     c.a = 1.0-atten;
35.     return c;
36. }
37.  
38.  
39. void surf (Input IN, inout SurfaceOutput o) {
40.     o.Albedo = lerp(float3(1.0,1.0,1.0), _Color.rgb, _ShadowInt);
41.     o.Alpha = 1.0;
42. }
43. ENDCG
44. }
45.  
46. Fallback "Transparent/Cutout/VertexLit"
47. }
48.  

Couple things maybe someone could help me with:

I can't get the alpha cutoff slider to do anything. Does alpha testing apply in some strange place between the surface function and light passes? Or did I just break something?

And It doesn't work with deferred lighting, instead it cuts a hole clear through to the background color/skybox.

 

Monkeyscience, it's awesome that you're looking at this! I've just tried your code.

I'm looking for the exact effect you're getting with the deferred lighting (I simply wan't to cast a shadow from a directional light onto a rendersettings.skybox), however I can't reproduce it in the game view. It works in scene view in forward rendering.

Deferred (the plane is not transparent in game view):



Forward (the plane is invisible in game view, and the shadow does not appear)




Any ideas?

 

Interesting that it is different in play and editor modes. A draw order problem with background shaders? I'll look into it.

 

Looks like there are two problems:
- ZWrite should remain enabled in the shadow catching shader
- There is some draw order bug in how PlayerSettings skyboxes are being drawn

I've put the exact same shader into PlayerSettings and onto a big sphere acting as skydome geometry. With ZWrite on, the shadow shader works against the skydome. Otherwise the player view is broken and editor view works .

ZWrite also cuts into the PlayerSettings skybox which only poses further questions.



Here is the source for the sky dome shader. If you don't have Skyshop installed, feel free to axe the skymatrix and fromRGBM calls. All this is is the built-in skybox shader with v.vertex.xyz used as the cubemap lookup instead of texcoords.

Code (csharp):

1.  
2. // Marmoset Skyshop
3. // Copyright 2013 Marmoset LLC
4. // http://marmoset.co
5.  
6. Shader "Marmoset/Skydome IBL" {
7. Properties {
8.     _SkyCubeIBL ("Custom Sky Cube", Cube) = "white" {}
9. }
10.  
11. SubShader {
12.     Tags { "Queue"="Background" "RenderType"="Background" }
13.     Cull Off ZWrite Off Fog { Mode Off }
14.  
15.     Pass {
16.         CGPROGRAM
17.         #pragma vertex vert
18.         #pragma fragment frag
19.         #pragma fragmentoption ARB_precision_hint_fastest
20.         //gamma-correct sampling permutations
21.         #pragma multi_compile MARMO_LINEAR MARMO_GAMMA
22.                
23.         #define MARMO_HQ
24.        
25.         #ifndef SHADER_API_GLES
26.             #define MARMO_SKY_ROTATION
27.         #endif
28.        
29.         #include "UnityCG.cginc"
30.         #include "../MarmosetCore.cginc"
31.  
32.         samplerCUBE _SkyCubeIBL;
33.         half4       _ExposureIBL;
34.         float4x4    _SkyMatrix;
35.        
36.         struct appdata_t {
37.             float4 vertex : POSITION;
38.             float3 texcoord : TEXCOORD0;
39.         };
40.  
41.         struct v2f {
42.             float4 vertex : POSITION;
43.             float3 texcoord : TEXCOORD0;
44.         };
45.  
46.         v2f vert (appdata_t v)
47.         {
48.             v2f o;
49.             o.vertex = mul(UNITY_MATRIX_MVP, v.vertex);
50.             #ifdef MARMO_SKY_ROTATION
51.             o.texcoord = mulVec3(_SkyMatrix, v.vertex.xyz);
52.             #else
53.             o.texcoord = v.vertex.xyz;
54.             #endif
55.             return o;
56.         }
57.  
58.         half4 frag (v2f i) : COLOR
59.         {
60.             half4 col = texCUBE(_SkyCubeIBL, i.texcoord);
61.             col.rgb = fromRGBM(col)*_ExposureIBL.z;
62.             col.a = 1.0;
63.             return col;
64.         }
65.         ENDCG
66.     }
67. }  
68.  
69.  
70. SubShader {
71.     Tags { "Queue"="Background" "RenderType"="Background" }
72.     Cull Off ZWrite Off Fog { Mode Off }
73.     Color [_Tint]
74.     Pass {
75.         SetTexture [_Tex] { combine texture +- primary, texture * primary }
76.     }
77. }
78.  
79. Fallback Off
80.  
81. }
82.  

 

Thanks so much!!! The matte shadow is beautiful and works perfectly for most applications. It is not compatible with android devices.

 

Hi,

I'm very green to Unity so please excuse my newbie questions.

This shader is very interesting to me as I'm trying to create shadows in an augmented reality scene (Vuforia). Basically, I'm trying to make my virtual objects throw shadows on my physical table.

I've created a new plane game object, I've created a shader based on the code above, I've created a new material. I attached the shader to the material and the material to the plane but I still see no shadows. Also, the plane itself remains white. I was expecting the plane to go transparent with grey shadows on top.

What am I doing wrong?

Any help greatly appreciated.


Tom

 

I'll revive it one more time... ;-)
is it possible to get this shader working for other lights then the directional light? for realtime shadows cast by a spotlight in deferred rendering?
if some shader wizard says it possible I'll gladly go and learn how to do it.

 

Amazing Shader!!

 

Script in here can not be used in Android. Someone help me.

 

I've tried it. It works indded!
Thank you very much!

 

Thank you very much! Works like a charm!

 

A quick question - is there a way to avoid the intense white effect when a point light is held close to the invisible surface?

 

As this thread looks promising:

Has anyone used the shader in Unity5 yet? I get only a bright Quad without any lighting.

I'm looking for something similar but the shader didn't work for me.
Can anyone nudge me in the right direction for a shader that paints a shadow on a transparent plane without a skybox but a solid color (from the camera settings) behind?

 

Here is the issue from my previous post:



The point light casts a strong, white effect on the invisible surface and it doesn't react to color changes.

Is there any way to avoid it?

 

This shader has saved my hide. Thank you all for contributing! I would like to request an additional feature. I have spend three hours already trying to implement it myself...but i end up with a syntax error that I can't for the life of me fix. If there is a shader guru out there that can help. I would be much obliged.

I need the shader to support an additional directional light. I believe using multiple passes is the way to go...and using these tags: (I am using monkeyscience's shader up in post #24)


Pass {
Tags {"LightMode" = "ForwardBase"}

}
Pass {
Tags {"LightMode" = "ForwardAdd"}

}

I even found a great youtube video on the subject of "multiple light shaders" that should help me...but again...i can't get past the syntax problems.

Help me obi-wan-kenobi...

 

Hi all, The above shader works fine but it doesn't work in andriod. Can someone help me make it work on android. Would really appreciate that. Thanks.

 

Same issue in IOS, anyone have any ideas?

 

Me too, I'm making an augmented reality scene and want a transparent plane under my scene that will overlay the shadows onto the video layer- and my target devices are Android/iOS...

 

maybe you could try it with our AR plugin?

 

@HowardKudan I am super excited to try your AR plugin out, I see you guys are based in Bristol, and it'd be great for us to use a UK based AR provider. Thus far we have been planning everything assuming we would be using Vuforia, since there were literally NO other options available- so the market is wide open for you guys.

For our particular project, tracking stability is absolutely key, we'd rather use image marker tracking over markerless tracking, if that gives more stability, put it that way. And we have tried wikitude, aurasma etc etc and the only thing that came close to Metaio (which was where we started before they got bought up) was Vuforia- hence here using Unity.

So how do you feel your tracking compares to Metaio/Vuforia? (Feel free to start a private chat since I know wwe are off topic here)

 

Hello @davidosullivan ,

Of course my opinion on the tracking could be a little biased, I believe it to be best in class, but you needn't take my word for it, we received 2 comments this week from experienced AR developers who are trying out our SDK:

“Just checked your demos on iPhone and I have to admit it's very impressive. It is way more stable and robust than ARToolkit, recognition is immediate.”

“the tracking quality is impressive - better than metaio's one”

But we are not resting on our laurels, constant improvements are being made to the tracking:

 

Thank you, this version works for me for Vuforia.

 

Just found this. Thanks for all the hard work people, your amazing!

 

Doesn't seem to work in Unity 5 Anyone knows why? Or have a link to something which does?

 

I found this, it working for me: https://github.com/keijiro/ShadowDrawer
I'm using in a sprite based game, and I have to change the RenderQueue value of my Sprite Materials to set the rendering order of the behind the shadow receiver.