Turn on Shadows in USDView

Community USD
1

Hi,
Probably a user error on my part, how do I turn on shadows in USDView?

Thanks
Ashwin

2

Hi Ashwin, the default dome light and camera light in USDView are constantly shining on the scene which makes it hard to see shadows. I would recommend defining your own light source using the UsdLux API which will create a stronger light that will cast shadows on your scene!

3

Hi Dinel,
Thanks for the suggestion, does DistantLight get handled by UsdLux or do I need to use UsdLux API?
Here is a test scene I’m using:
test_usdviewshadows.usda (2.3 KB)
This is what I see in USDView. In USDView from the Light menu, I have only enabled scene lights.
image

Thanks
Ashwin

4

You’ll need to select a renderer that supports shadows, like HdPrman or one of the third party pathtracers. While Storm can be configured to produce shadows (for some light types), usdview won’t currently do so.

5

I temporarily hacked the viewSettings.ambientLightOnly to allow shadows and it does go through the shadowTask. I get something.
image

but I’m not able to figure out how to get USDView to pick up the scene lights, when
self._dataModel.viewSettings.enableSceneLights is true.