Question by Coguelin · Apr 15, 2016 at 12:34 PM · lighting shaders shadows colour extensions

Extending the Light Class to select Shadow Colour

Hey folks, long time no see.

I'm trying to set up a system to let us select the colour of shadows cast by a light.

I know how to create a shader to let them select the colour of shadows received by an object but I have no idea how I would go about doing that from the light source.

I figure it might be possible to set up a script that grabs the shadow map and tints shadows based on the colour set by the artist but... ugh, that sounds messy.

So I was wondering : do any of you have an idea how it could be done from the light object? Or will I just have to make them set the received shadow colour per object?

I'd appreciate any kind of insight, thanks for your help!

All the best, R.

Add comment · Show 5

tanoshimi · Apr 15, 2016 at 01:26 PM 0

The colour of a shadow is not deter$$anonymous$$ed by a light since, by definition, the shadow is the bit that this light doesn't fall on... it's a property of an object on which the shadow is cast, or perhaps something you could set globally to affect the way the shadow map is applied, but I don't think it's going to be straightforward to do. What effect exactly are you trying to achieve?

Coguelin · Apr 15, 2016 at 05:52 PM 0

Hi @tanoshimi, thanks for your reply!

Yep, that's what I expected.

I built my artists a shader to colour the shadow received, but they requested a "Shadow Colour" variable they could set in the light rather than the object.

I agree regarding the shadow map, it wouldn't be all that simple to implement.

bonniemathew · Jul 14, 2016 at 09:19 AM 0

@Coguelin... Did you figure out how to do it? I also have a similar requirement. To extend the Light class provided by Unity and add some additional features...