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[grafxflow_admin]

What does the shadow catcher plugin allow?

Here is the scenario, we have a 3D character walking across the floor while casting a shadow. We want to composite this with an image in photoshop. Using shadow catcher we can render the character and shadow (with alpha) without the floor. Very useful.

Before starting... I have been searching ages to try and find the C4D ShadowCatcher plugin. Luckily after pages and pages of searching I finally managed to track it down. So for this tutorial you can download it from this site (It's FREE).

download link

Part 1.
First quit C4D if it is running.

Part 2.
Then unzip the download and place it in the C4D plugins folder (Should be found in the same directory as the application MAC = Applications/MAXON/plugins/ShadowCatcher.cob or PC = C:/program files/MAXON/plugins/ShadowCatcher.cob).

Part 3.
Now start C4D.

Part 4.
Lets create a scene and place a box hovering over a plane.





Part 5.
Then add a light with a target.



Part 6.
Choose the 'General' settings tab and change the following, 'Type' to 'Omni' and 'Shadow' to 'Shadow Maps (Soft)'.



Part 7.
Lets do a quick render....



Part 8.
Now apply a new material to the plain (this is what we want to act as our shadow catcher).





Part 9.
In the new material editor change the properties by unselecting everything except the alpha.



Part 10.
In the alpha properties, click the download arrow next to texture and choose 'shadowcaster' (it should be near the bottom). You will also have to select 'invert' option.



Part 12.
Now lets go to the Render/render settings.



Part 13.
In the 'general' tab change 'Antialiasing' to 'Best'.



Part 14.
In the 'save' tab highlight the 'Alpha Channel' (The important bit!).



Part 15.
Render and save it. Then open the file in photoshop and highlight the images alpha, then copy and paste the original layer which should now give you a new layer containing only the shadow and object.



We're done!

grafxflow_admin