Casting shadows in renders

The Brig

Using Studio 4.11 here and having a hard time making shadows meet up with the source object.

I've got a render I'm working on where the subject is lying on the ground but rather than the shadows meeting the model, it looks like the model is floating several inches above the ground. I've used ctrl+D to bring the model to the ground, but in the finished render, I still see the gap between the shadows and the figure. It looks like Studio wants to project the shadows onto something other than the actual ground, because no matter how I position the model, I get a gap. I've moved the model on its Y axis to negative numbers--where I'd assume it would be below the ground plane--but the gap persists.

Has anyone figured out what causes this and how to fix it? I'm lost.

kenshaw011267

ctrl-D isn't perfect.

Pretty much the only way to get an object absolutely on a surface is to align the camera exactly level with the surface and drop the object down till it meets the surface.

JonnyRay

Also, on your Render Settings / Environment options, are you using an HDRI for your environment and do you have the ground location set to "Auto"?

The "Auto" setting uses the 'bounding box' of your figures and props. Which is typically larger than your actual figure. Try setting it to manual and then adjust the height of the ground by using the Y location on the origin settings so your figure meets the ground properly.

The Brig

Also, on your Render Settings / Environment options, are you using an HDRI for your environment and do you have the ground location set to "Auto"?

No HDRIs, but ground location? This is news to me. I had no idea that could even be adjusted.

JonnyRay said:

The "Auto" setting uses the 'bounding box' of your figures and props. Which is typically larger than your actual figure. Try setting it to manual and then adjust the height of the ground by using the Y location on the origin settings so your figure meets the ground properly.

Aaaaaaaaaand there it is. If only I could make it visible to see my progress... But this put me on the right track. Thanks to both of you!

fastbike1

@The Brig "If only I could make it visible to see my progress"

Add a simple ground plane. Switch to perspective view and line up the feet with the plane (or as @kenshaw011267 said, load a default camera - which will be at 0.0.0), then delete the ground plane if not needed. Don't forget to switch to you desired camera before rendering.