SketchUp 2017
Enscape 1.9.4.373-g307be11
here is a monoscopic exe file:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/u7wd…cq2t/Louvre_mono.exe?dl=0
notice how when you pan or navigate the shadows on the ground stay still but when you stop moving IE: stand still the shadows start jumping around jittering. Is there any reason for this to be happening.
Here is a video that shows what I'm seeing in the model with odd shadow behavior:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/81xx4oepfef5akm/shadows.mp4?dl=0
Your observation is correct - when standing still Enscape further enhances the rendering quality of the image iteratively for a few frames until you get the end result (should usually be less than a few seconds). Correctly calculated, soft sun shadows are part of this enhancement process. If you feel that the shadows appear too soft you may want to tweak the Atmosphere Settings a bit - as atmosphere scattering contributes to more soft shadows (especially cloud density & thickness).
Soft shadows are fine and desired....shadows that flicker and wave in and out are not if you notice the shadows outside on the ground do not flicker but the ones inside under the pyramid do. It's something to do with shadows being cast through a glass material.
This behavior was not present in an earlier release.
Are you seeing the shadow Jumping and jittering in the exe file.
I understand that you feel that this is undesirable behaviour. The reason this post enhancement is there, is because we want to give the user the best possible render quality when it matters most (focussing on detail, screenshots, videos) but without sacrificing walkthrough performance. We might find a more subtle solution to fade into the enhanced softshadow in the future though.
However it has nothing to do with this particular structure and has in fact been like this for quite a long time (long before any Sketchup Release). Please see the attached screenshots with another example of the shadows during walkthrough (constant penumbra size) and the enhanced soft shadows (contact hardening) after the image converged when standing still.
Hi Nvizeon, your .exe file works fine for me. While I am moving the shadows are sharp, when I slow down and stop, the shadows get softer and finally positioned.
Maybe this process of the final rendering could cause the feeling of jumping and jittering shadows.
You could reduce this by reducing the rendering quality, so the shadows stays sharp, and by increasing the sun in the Enscape settings.
Thanks
The area inside the pyramid is the area that I see the worst "jittering" of the shadows. and the greatest difference between "hard" shadows and the "enhanced" final shadows. If you have a moment try going inside the pyramid and look at the shadows being cast.
Part of the issue might be that the shadows being cast through the glass and part might be that the pyramid structure is comprised of transparent "PNG" images such that the shadow is being cast through both the glass materials and the transparent png.
I'm fine with the adjustment period going from the hard shadow to the soft shadow but when there are MANY hundreds of parallel shadow lines together they seem to be oscillating or flickering. A single shadow from a single object like the statue can transition from hard to soft fairly un-noticeably but when there are many shadows close together the effect seems disconcerting. It's not a big issue I just wanted to bring it to your attention to see if this model was highlighting an issue that you could address.
Hi Nvizeon - i will look and give you my thoughts - hope Enscape can add more SketchUp related work to the website - maybe soon?
does the option in SketchUp to cast - receive shadows make a difference in Enscape?
James Ogston We use the time and date adjustments of the shadow settings but not the light/dark adjustments.