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Tutorial steps

Using V-Ray

Shadow Catcher

Select the object, which will become a shadow catcher. In our case we select a plane.

Click the Assign VRay Object Properties Shadow Catcher button on the V-Ray toolbar while the object is still selected. Alternatively, right-click on the same button to open more options for assigning properties to an object, and select Apply single shadow catcher to selection.

The assigned Shadow Catcher creates a VrayObjectProperties node with already set settings for a matte object properties node to selection. It is recommended to leave the properties at their defaults, as they are automatically set for optimal results.

In the Attribute Editor, select the vrayobjectproperties tab.

In the Matte Properties rollout:

• enable the Matte Surface option
• set the Alpha Contribution to -1.0 (this makes the received shadows take away from the alpha information for compositing later)

• enable the Shadows (this option makes the object receive shadows)

• enable Affect Alpha (this makes the received shadows affect the alpha, and the Alpha Contribution specifies whether to add to the alpha if set to 1.0, take away if set to -1.0 or leave the alpha unchanged if set to 0.0) 

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The Matte Surface, Shadows and Affect Alpha options are enabled and the Alpha Contribution is set to -1. This turns the plane into a Matte object. This means that it is not directly visible in the scene; instead

, the background color is shown in its place. The background color here corresponds to the Override Environment

 parameter that can be accessed from Render Settings > Overrides tab > Environment rollout. Please note that this effect works only on objects that have

these V-Ray Object

Properties set.

In the V-Ray Object Properties, set the Matte For Secondary Rays to With Projection Mapping so that the matte object projects back the background environment onto other objects for increased realism.

UI Text Box
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Optionally, the reflections that the motorcycle geometry receives can be overridden with another texture. To achieve this, enable Override Secondary Matte Environment option from the Render Settings > Overrides tab > Environment rollout > Override Secondary Matte Environment where a different HDRI can be used as as a Secondary Matte texture for the reflections. Image Removed Expand title Click here to expand an image of the parameters. Section Column width 30%   Column width 40%  Image Added Column width 30%     Here's how the reflections and refractions are changed by the Override Secondary Matte Environment. Please, note that the final result is strongly exaggerated to better illustrate the effect of the options. The use of a secondary matte texture is not mandatory and can be omitted.  Expand title Click here to expand the final images. Section Column width 25%   Column width 50% Before after afterLabel on beforeLabel off Panel borderStyle none Panel borderStyle none Column width 25%

Using V-Ray Object Properties

Alternatively, you can use the  Image Added V-Ray Object Properties node directly and adjust it manually. 

For instructions on how to create a V-Ray Object Properties node, please visit the V-Ray Object Properties page.

After assigning the node to the selected plane, go to the Attributes Editor and under the vrayobjectproperties tab set the following settings:

Using VRayMtlWrapper Material

Another way to achieve this effect is through the use of VRayMtlWrapper.

Select the plane, open the Hypershade and create a VRayMtlWrapper using the Create panel.

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Assign the VRayMtlWrapper to the plane using by right click clicking and hold holding on the VRayMtlWrapper Shader ball icon (alternatively, on the VRayMtlWrapper node) and choose choosing Assign Material to Selection.

Enable the same options for the VRayMtlWrapper as the ones outlined mentioned in the previous approach:

V-Ray Object Properties:

This turns the plane into a Matte object. This means that it is not directly visible in the scene; instead the background color is shown in its place. Note that the background here corresponds to the Override Environment background override parameter that can be accessed from Render Settings > Overrides tab > Environment rollout. This effect works with every geometry that has the VrayMtlWrapper applied to it.Image Removed