2d trees darker on one side of render. Shadow issues possibly?

[RobH2]

I have 2d trees in the distance of a view. Imagine the camera pointing from 6 o'clock towards 12 o'clock. The sun in at abut 4 o'clock.

It seems as if the trees in the distant right are getting backlit as they rotate to face the camera. How can I correct this and have all the distant trees render the same density?

[RobH2]

I'm going to partially answer my own question. I came up with a workaround but if there is a better method that uses the features of FP let me know.

For the short term I excluded the distant trees from my light. I then duplicated that light and moved it so it's directly behind the camera. I 'include' just the trees in that light and adjust its brightness. It looks pretty good and is sufficient for my client.

However, if there is another way that uses techniques within FP I'd like to learn it.

[Michal Karmazín]

Hi,

The solution will depend on the render engine used. In case of mental ray, Forest Pack includes a custom shader that enhances the rendering of billboards - Forest Shader, which requires the use of Forest Material.

If that's your case, I would suggest you to lower the Self-ilum factor value (by default set to 50%) under Material - Forest Shader. That should eliminate that undesired effect.

Anyway, as you've already tested, exclusion affected items from light source would be an another suitable option.

Best regards,

[RobH2]

Thanks Michal. I'm using VRay but maybe the workflow would be the same. I'll have a look and see if it helps. There is usually more than one way to achieve desirable results. It's fun to try them all.