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Question

No shadows in active camera view After Effects

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I'm totally stumped here, cannot figure out what is going on. I have all my material options set properly and the light is correct. Can't identify why I can see shadows in FRONT view but not ACTIVE CAMERA view. Any ideas? Here is a screen of my app:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qaa6vziqutqs65s/CropperCapture%5B9%5D.png?dl=0

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Feature request

D

DmitryAbramov

Participant

Hello everyone! This helped me:

1.

Then:

After this shadow began to display..

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R

Robby24632936pon7

Participant

This is the only proposed solution that worked for me.

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thepixelsmith

Community Expert

Just confirming, you don't have any layer styles on the layer you want to cast shadows?

Layer styles interfere with some 3D properties like shadows.

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Jerron Smith | www.thepixelsmith.com

Z

Zharik

Participant

What worked for me is turning all layers into 3D objects.
Or moving layers into a compisition that is set as 3D.

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damianh76353340

Participant

Delete all the effects of the layer. Some effects (like drop shadow) are not compatible with cast shadows.

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thepixelsmith

Community Expert

It's not the drop shadow effect it is the layer style and all layer styles that interfere with 3D layers.

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Jerron Smith | www.thepixelsmith.com

U

UdiKaslasi

Participant

In case you still having this problem.
I had a similar problem, a 3D comp that casts a shadow over a floor. the shadow was there in all views except default/ camera view.
What solved it was moving a video layer I had above the casting shadow layer(it wasn't matted or in any way relevant to the comp).

So I suggest moving around some layer order in your sequance layers window and see if it changes anything.
Hope it helps.

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J

Jorge424242

Participant

This solved it for me!!, thanks

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G

girlmother

Participant

Turning off Draft3D helped me see my shadow

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George30530406cxlo

Participant

This is the real answer.

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G Alder

Known Participant

I'm having the same issue--shadows show up in Front view (and Custom views), but not in Active Camera view.

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Rick Gerard

Community Expert

G Alder, we need screenshots of your comp with four views so we can see the alignment of the layers. If you are using the C4D rendering engine, shadows are limited. If it is something else, a screenshot showing the position of the lights, the camera, and the layers should point out the flaws in the layout.

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anders_hattne

Inspiring

We might be having a similar problem here.
In out case an ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR LAYER (tldr) was causing the problem.
We created another solid, which would cast shadows if said Illustrator 3d layer was not visible and in between the light and shadow catcher.
If the Illustrator layer was visible or inbetween in the layer stack; no shadows.
Said layer has a Fill Effect and a Mask, but does not cast shadows when these things are deactivated.
Seems like a BUG to me.
Still twiddling with things to figure out what the issue might be and how to fix it, but I'll most likely parent a solid with the same shape of the illustrator layer to cast the shadow.

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gregdigg

Participating Frequently

Have you tried pre-comping the illustrator pieces?

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Rick Gerard

Community Expert

Select all your 3D layers and lights, press the U key twice. If you don't see Cast Shadows on for lights and layers, you won't get any shadows. The default for both lights and layers is Cast Shadows Off. You also need to check at least two views to make sure your lights are in the right location and pointed the right way to cast a shadow. If you don't see Cast Shadows - On, then select the layer and press aa to reveal the material options and make the adjustments.