Shadow Catcher plugin in Cinema 4D - Part 1

64 Response

1. 

   Alvaro Alvarado

   28 Nov 2012

   Excelente plugin thanks for the support
2. 

   me@grafxflow

   28 Nov 2012

   Glad to help
3. 

   LmWolfSpirit

   28 Nov 2012

   Thank you. I am just learning C4D, and this looks like it will be very helpful.
4. 

   adam

   27 Jan 2013

   help!
   r13 OR r14 can't work...
5. 

   me@grafxflow

   27 Jan 2013

   I have used it in C4D R13 and it works perfectly. What is the exact problem you are having?
6. 

   Paul

   12 Feb 2013

   Any way of making this work with Sketch & Toon enabled? It just renders the plane with a full, solid white alpha. I've got it working fine without sketch & toon.
7. 

   me@grafxflow

   12 Feb 2013

   I am not sure if this will work with Sketch & Toon enabled or if it's even possible at all.
   
   Maybe try:
   

   
   
   1. A render without Sketch & Toon active, but shadow catcher and save the alpha.
   
   
   
   2. A render using Sketch & Toon active.
   
   
   
   3. Then use the shadow catcher alpha over the Sketch & Toon render.
   
   
8. 

   Paul

   12 Feb 2013

   Aha - found the solution: I just excluded the plane from rendering by putting it in:
   
   Render Settings > Sketch and Toon > Render > Mode: Exclude
   
   The shadow still rendered on the alpha correctly.
9. 

   Paul

   12 Feb 2013

   Wow - what a lightning fast reply! Thanks for your suggestions!
   - Paul
10. 

    me@grafxflow

    12 Feb 2013

    It seems your solutions better and easier, thanks for sharing it.
    
    Solution is in message below...
11. 

    Paul

    12 Feb 2013

    The only thing that now remains is how to anti-alias the shadow. Everything in the alpha channel has lovely smooth edges, apart from the shadow. Very odd.
12. 

    me@grafxflow

    12 Feb 2013

    Have you set the Anti-Aliasing to best?
    Just did a test render using your solution and looked okay in photoshop.
13. 

    Paul

    12 Feb 2013

    I want to have hard-edged shadows, so used the Raytraced (Hard) option. When I use soft shadows, it looks fine. But I've just tried Area shadows, and that gives me a fairly hard-edged shadow, nicely anti-aliased and doesn't take long to render.
14. 

    me@grafxflow

    12 Feb 2013

    Try using an 'infinite' light for rendering the 'Raytraced (hard)' shadow.
    
    And in the 'Sketch and Toon' settings choose the 'Shading' tab and set 'Background' to 'Off'.
15. 

    Andy

    25 Feb 2013

    Does this work with GI cant get it too work.
16. 

    me@grafxflow

    25 Feb 2013

    This plugging is meant for use with any of the built in C4D lights (Spot, Infinite etc) which is capable of casting shadows.
17. 

    Tom Stracke

    27 Feb 2013

    Hi!! Great plugin !!! :) but GI Shadows appears not to work. There is a workaround? thx in adv!!
18. 

    Muhamed

    08 Mar 2013

    My friend, it doesn't work with GI.
    Can anybody help me with it?
    Even when i use one of the greyscalegorilla's studio lights, it appears not to work :SS
    PS: thanks for the plugin :)
19. 

    Mack

    10 Mar 2013

    Hi, i have the same problem, doesn't work with GI, i'm also rendering an EXR multi-pass file and the show pass is also empty.
    Thnx for the plugin
20. 

    Mack

    10 Mar 2013

    *Shadow pass
21. 

    Youandi

    07 Aug 2013

    Works really nice using HDRI with flat floors to generate shadows, saves you some photoshop time
22. 

    Josh P

    20 Nov 2013

    Great plugin. Would be amazing if you could get AO to translate also.
23. 

    Marko Radak

    03 Dec 2013

    The only downside is that my render is never fully transparent - it always have a bit of the opacity, about 4-5%
    
    Anyway to fix this?
24. 

    me@grafxflow

    06 Dec 2013

    Does the texture that contains the transparent shadow still have 'specular' selected?
25. 

    Gokhan

    23 Jan 2014

    Hi,firstly thank you very much for great plugin but I have a problem about Physical Render in R15...
    maybe my mistake but I can't correct result with Physical Render?
    do you have an idea?
    Thanks mate.
26. 

    me@grafxflow

    23 Jan 2014

    Hi Gokhan,
    
    I am not sure what the issue is? Can you go into more detail.
    
    cheers
    Paul
27. 

    Teemu

    19 Aug 2014

    Is it possible to export with shadow catcher also normal alpha channel without shadows? Or do i need to render image with shadow catcher and without to get bot alpha channels?
    Thanks for the answer!
28. 

    me@grafxflow

    19 Aug 2014

    I am not sure if I totally understand you correctly, but maybe you could add a 'Compositing Tag' to each object then in the 'Object Buffer' tab give each its own individual number. Also make sure to do a multi-pass render then add each 'Object Buffer'. This should work for after effects.
29. 

    Daryl

    21 Aug 2014

    I just wanted to say thank you for such a great plugin and an even better user friendly instruction. I really like your style overall on everything you do. Great work. Thank You.
30. 

    me@grafxflow

    21 Aug 2014

    Always glad to help.
31. 

    Teemu

    26 Aug 2014

    Thanks grafxflow, for suggestion was right, thanks for the help!
    And thanks for the plugin, it helped me to get one image done easier..
32. 

    Alpha_editor

    22 Oct 2014

    Nice Plug-in! I have an issue. I am in C4d R16. I can get the plugin to render fine in the "Standard" renderer. When I switch to the "Physical" Renderer the shadow is a "no show". I have tried all forms of compositing tags, etc. Nothing in the physical renderer is coming through. As soon as I switch to Standard render all works exactly as it should. I am compositing in AE CC 2014 via png sequences. Do you have a work around for this issue?
33. 

    me@grafxflow

    22 Oct 2014

    Unfortunately it doesn't work with renders using physical/global illumination. I had somebody else with the same problem in a previous comment so to solve it...
    
    The best way to go is to do add a ‘Compositing Tag’ to each object then in the ‘Object Buffer’ tab give each its own individual number. Also make sure to do a multi-pass render then add each ‘Object Buffer’. This should work for after effects.
    
    Hope it helps or gives you are starting point.
34. 

    mauro

    09 Feb 2015

    Hi, thank a lot...
    
    I have a problem with Cineware layers.
    I can't get it to work. Am I doing something wrong?
    
    Cheerss
35. 

    me@grafxflow

    10 Feb 2015

    Hi Mauro,
    
    From what I understand Cineware relates to importing C4D files direct into After Effects. So I am unsure if Shadow Catcher will still be able to work this way.
36. 

    Vincent

    12 Oct 2015

    This works really well but It isn't completely transparent when rendering to a png using the picture frame. How do I make it completely transparent?
37. 

    me@grafxflow

    12 Oct 2015

    Does the shadow catcher texture have everything unchecked apart from the alpha?
38. 

    Oleg

    02 Dec 2015

    I can't dowload plugin by link: https://grafxflow.co.uk/storage/app/media/blog-downloads/139/ShadowCatcherFinal.zip

39. 

    me@grafxflow

    02 Dec 2015

    Hi Oleg,
    
    I have tested the link and it's working fine. What browser are you using?
40. 

    Geoffrey

    23 Dec 2015

    I'm using R16. When I set everything as you laid out (Really great step-by-step) I can't get it to work. When I have the plane on with no material it worked and the shadows were there. When I applied the material according to your instructions, the plane is black and not accepting any shadows.
    
    Thanks!
41. 

    Geoffrey

    23 Dec 2015

    One more thing, I using cineware, but the shadows are not showing up in C4D.
42. 

    me@grafxflow

    26 Dec 2015

    Hi Geoffrey,
    
    Are you using something like Global Illumination in the advanced render settings?
43. 

    Mauro

    02 Jan 2016

    Hey, this is what I get... its like the borders of the shadow are showing the plane
    
44. 

    me@grafxflow

    02 Jan 2016

    Hi Mauro,
    
    What version of C4D are you using?
    
    Plus do you have a screen shot of your render settings?
45. 

    Nick D

    04 Mar 2016

    I often need to render out simple animations as PNGs with transparent backgrounds so that I can create sprite sheets out of them. So far this plug-in is the ONLY thing that works for me, so thanks so much for making it available! The other methods of shadow catching from C4D always seem to require compositing OVER something else using multiply afterwards, but I need to deliver images with transparency included in them.
    
    Unfortunately the render times are killing me -- it takes hours to render things that normally would take minutes. Do you have any tips for speeding up rendering with this plug-in? I'm thinking maybe if I do two passes - one for the object and one for the shadow, both with transparent backgrounds - I might be able to tweak the settings for the shadow pass to disable anything that's not needed. I will try a few things, but I'm wondering if you have any tips. Thanks again!
46. 

    Al C

    11 Jul 2016

    Hey awesome plugin, but my output has the grey transparent background, how to get rid of it
47. 

    me@grafxflow

    11 Jul 2016

    Do you have a screenshot? Or can you go in to more detail?
48. 

    SEBASTIAN NOLTE

    19 Oct 2016

    OHHHH GOD - THANK YOU - WORKS GREAT AT C4D R17
49. 

    me@grafxflow

    19 Oct 2016

    Perfect thanks for the update Sebastian
50. 

    Jacob

    22 Oct 2016

    Thanks for an amazing plugin!
    I'm having a bit of trouble. I have an infinite light which cast a Raytraced hard shadow. When I render it out the shadow is solid black, but I need it to be reddish color. Is it possible to adjust the shadow color or maybe add multiply or transparency to it? I'm using sketch and toon as well btw.
51. 

    mahdi mehrabi

    19 Jun 2017

    Hi
    I'm Gonna Use Live link In After Effects all the Harrow directly and no need to tiff render
    I entered the After Effects environment.
    But the material plane is seen and do not provide shade for Alpha
    Please guide me
    Thank you
52. 

    me@grafxflow

    19 Jun 2017

    Hi Mahdi,
    
    I am unsure if shadow catcher will allow this? due to it being processed within its own c4d render rather than after effects.
    Maybe using c4d's built in compositing would be a better option.
53. 

    Eriol

    13 Aug 2017

    you saved my day!!
54. 

    Srinath

    16 Aug 2017

    Hi Sir nice Tutorial, I want to Shadow Fallows Through animated character..
55. 

    Miles

    31 Aug 2018

    Hello I curious to know if this plug in works for cinema 4d lite?
56. 

    me@grafxflow

    31 Aug 2018

    Unfortunately I have never used c4d light so can't give you a yes or no answer.
57. 

    Yogesh verma

    06 Dec 2018

    Hi me@grafxflow,
    
    read your all comments and appreciate that you are constantly in with ur viewers. i installed the shadow catcher and its working fine but i need this plugin to work like R18 and if it's not then kindly guide some other plugin for alpha reflection.
58. 

    Cobus

    15 Dec 2018

    Thank you so much! I am really peeved with Maxon for including its its shadow catching material ONLY in its Studio version. This should have been a basic feature in versions ages ago!
59. 

    Ahsen Tariq

    15 Jan 2019

    Is it possible with Octane or Redshift
60. 

    Dawid

    30 May 2019

    Doesn't work with C4D R20 Prime. Not visible in Alpha -> Texture in material editor :(
61. 

    me@grafxflow

    30 May 2019

    Sad to hear that Dawid... probably better to see if it can be achieved with compositing.
    
    Currently it's only be tested with Cinema 4D R9 through to R17. :(
62. 

    Robbie

    18 Jul 2019

    Thank you so much! You are my hero.
    
    I don't know if this is already stated, but for me, the transparency of the shadow was always 100%. Even when I played around with the transparency in the material. (Step 9).
    
    I found a way to control the shadow opacity by adding a Display Tag onto the floor and use the visibility and dropped it to 75%.
63. 

    Adam

    21 Feb 2020

    Thanks so much for this. I am amazed that 3D software makes it so hard to capture just shadows. Seems so logical. Thanks for making this.
    
    Is there a way to lighten the shadow though so it's not pure dark?
    
    Thanks!
    
    Adam
64. 

    me@grafxflow

    21 Feb 2020

    Hi Adam,
    
    Sadly I wasn't the person who originally developed this plugin, but I am guessing you could play around with the colour or opacity?
    
    Here is a updated tutorial which might help tutorial link.
    
    Also one thing to note - as from C4D R18 onwards shadow catcher is an actual built in feature.... finally! A nice part of this new options is that it also allows reflections as well.