Shadow Node

With the Shadow effect, you can turn a drawing into a shadow. It doesn't matter if the drawing layer is a fully coloured character. The Shadow effect will render it into a grey, semitransparent, slightly blurry silhouette. You must connect your layer a second time to the your Composite node to see the original image displayed on top of the shadow. To see advanced usage of the Shadow node such as drop-shadow, see Creating a Drop Shadow.

Refer to the following example to connect this effect:

NOTE If this effect is connected below a Composite node set to Pass-Through, the effect will be applied to each element connected in the Composite node individually. If some of these elements are overlapping, the effect will also overlap.

Properties

Parameter Description
Enable/Disable

Allows you to enable or disable the node. When disabled, a node has no visible effect on the rendered image, nor on the preview in the Camera, Perspective, Side and Top views.

Colour Swatch

Sets the colour of the layer in the Timeline view and of the node in the Node view.

Name Allows you to enter a name for the node.
Truck Factor

Activated by default, this option readjusts the blur when the elements undergo a change of depth or scale. When disabled, the effect's values will remain unchanged regardless of depth or scale changes. It is recommended that this option be disabled when multiple drawings are composited and attached this effect.

Blur Type

Allows you to choose between the following blur types for the effect:

  • Radial: The edges of the matte are blurred evenly around points that make up the edge of the matte.
  • Directional: The matte is blurred in the direction configured with the Directional Angle and Directional Falloff Rate parameters.
Radius

Enter a value for the size of the blur. The larger the value, the greater the blur effect. The blur radius is affected by the drawing scale and camera position.

Directional Angle

If you set the Blur Type to Directional, this sets the angle of the blur. The value goes from 0 to 360, with 0 meaning west, and angles going counterclockwise. For example:

  • 0: Blurs the image to the west.
  • 90: Blurs the image to the south.
  • 180: Blurs the image to the east.
  • 270: Blurs the image to the north.
Directional Falloff Rate

The distance where the blur fades from the edge of the image. Select a decimal value between 0 and 1. For example:

  • 0: Makes the blur fade out slowly, distributing the blur evenly from the edge of the character to the farthest edge of the blur.
  • 1: Makes the blur fade out quickly. The blur is heaviest closer to the edge of the image.
Invert Matte

Inverts the matte used to generate the effect. By default, the effect is applied to opaque areas of the drawing. When this option is enabled, the effect is applied to transparent or empty areas of the drawing.

Use Source Colour

Instead of using the colour in the Colour parameters, this uses the colours in the source drawing to generate the effect.

NOTE The effect of this parameter is only visible in Render View mode.
Multiplicative

Multiplies the colours of the effect with the colours of the background. This intensifies the effect.

Colour
Red

The amount of red to subtract from the colour in the background image. To obtain a shadow effect, this value must be negative.

Green

The amount of green to subtract from the colour in the background image. To obtain a shadow effect, this value must be negative.

Blue

The amount of blue to subtract from the colour in the background image. To obtain a shadow effect, this value must be negative.

Alpha The alpha value of the effect.
Colour Swatch

Opens the Colour Picker dialog, in which you can visually select a colour for the effect.

Intensity

Allows you to set the factor by which to multiply the intensity of the effect. This parameter can take a decimal value between 0 and 1. At 1, the effect is fully applied. At 0, the effect is not visible.