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Detail Mesh... No Shadows...

Discussion in 'Global Illumination' started by KevalrOxy, Jul 19, 2017.

  1. KevalrOxy

    KevalrOxy

    Joined:
    Aug 15, 2015
    Posts:
    21
    I have been trying to get my 'Detail meshes' to cast / bake shadows, but they will not. Can somebody tell me if it is at least possible to do this? If so... how? I have looked everywhere, but noody seems to have an answer. The same objects do cast / bake shadows when they are not 'Detail Meshes'.

    Any help with this would be greatly appreciated... it's killing me lol :)

    Thanks.
     
  2. KevalrOxy

    KevalrOxy

    Joined:
    Aug 15, 2015
    Posts:
    21
    Bump. So nobody knows if it's possible? I've done a lot of tests and spent hours on it, short of creating custom shaders (which I can't do). I have the same objects as prefabs to be regular objects in my scene, AND to be detail meshes. The regular objects cast shadows and bake AO, the detail mesh does not, even though it's the exact same mesh. How can that be? Are detail meshes becoming a thing of the past, or something? It seems Unity has simply forgotten about them. After doing a lot of research, there seems to have been some lighting control over detail meshes in the past, but they've taken it out. So now, if I want to scatter small rocks, have them shadow and bake AO, then I have to do it manually. Jeez, that seems so wrong... The only consolation is that SSAO works on them, but thats all you get. It's a poor showing for small bushes too because I want them to cast shadows AND use the wind... if anybody has had any joy with this, please let me know. Much appreciated.
     
  3. Amitgp

    Amitgp

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2014
    Posts:
    22
    Hey

    This one is a hard one to help with. I know of someone who replaced the shader to cast shadow. And I know someone said it doesn't cash shadow on terrain but does it on normal planes etc. I have never looked into it myself. This is the link to cast the shadow editing the shader so to speak: https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/SL-ShaderReplacement.html

    Also, if you don't want to do that. I have solved this by adding fake cookie shadows or even used decals on my meshes. But these days I don't use detail mesh as I normally place them out as prefabs to get the shadow.

    Technically you could use light probes but it won't work.
     
  4. KevalrOxy

    KevalrOxy

    Joined:
    Aug 15, 2015
    Posts:
    21
    Thanks Ami... appreciate your input. Detail Meshes seem to be 'unfinished' in Unity. It's a great tool for dropping small, detail objects in your scene, but there is such a cost for using it. Similarly, there is a huge cost for not using it i.e lack of wind for example. If you've used Unreal or CryEngine, you'll know how easy it is to drop in some vegetation, apply a decent shader, and have wind and shadows. I love Unity, but it's becoming frustrating to use from an art perspective, unless you write all your own shaders. I now have another, similar problem. I have two, big oak trees in my scene, that I need / want in a specific position i.e. not dropped in a random position / rotation. I have manually placed them, but getting wind on them seems impossible? I feel like I'm missing something here...
     
  5. bigbrainz

    bigbrainz

    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2015
    Posts:
    177
    3 years later I'm finding the same question. Has Unity evolved on this at all?

    Thanks!
     
  6. KEngelstoft

    KEngelstoft

    Unity Technologies

    Joined:
    Aug 13, 2013
    Posts:
    1,366
    Terrain detail meshes are not affecting GI but terrain trees do. If you need GI from an object scattered on the terrain, please use the trees feature instead.
     
  7. misticalages

    misticalages

    Joined:
    Aug 3, 2020
    Posts:
    12
    that's the worst
     
    flobxdxd and Pr0x1d like this.