my maya journal: SHADOWS

area light on mental ray shadows default (type: user) sampling: 6&6

area light on mental ray shadows default (type: user) sampling: 3&3

area light on mental ray shadows default (type: sphere)

area light on mental ray shadows default (type: cylinder)

area light on mental ray shadows default (type: rectangle)

resolution: 512
samples: 150
softness: 0.05

resolution: 1024
samples: 25
softness: 0.005

mental ray shadows with the shadow map attribute to on on the mental ray section of a light's Attribute Editor. default attributes.

default manual focus value of shadow =90. compare with below that the focus value is 40.

manual focus value of shadow for a spot light (=about 40) (see page 40 of Lee Laniers book on advanced Maya Texturing and Lighting):

1. Select the spot light and open its Attribute Editor tab. Uncheck Use Auto Focus. The focus attribute becomes available.

2. With the Light selected, choose Display > Camera/ Light Manipulator > Cone Angle. In a workspace view, choose Panels > Look through Selected. The view through the light appears.

3. Click + drag the Cone Angle manipulator until the cone circle surrounds the objects in the scene that require a depth map shadow. Do not allow the cone to an abrupt stop in the render. Note the Cone Angle value and enter the number in the Focus Attribute field. Move the manipulator back to its original position so that the original Cone Angle value is achieved.

4. Switch Disk Based Dmaps to Reuse Existing Dmap(s), enter a name into the dmapName field, and render out a test frame. (This assumes that no depth maps have written out.) Double check the resulting depth map with Fcheck. In the workspace view, choose an orthographic view through the Panels menu; this removes temporary camera attached to the light by the Look Through Selected command.