Matte/Shadow

[gdona2]

I hope that someone can help me with what I thought would be a simple task.  I am using Max '23 with Arnold.  I have been trying to use Matte/Shadow to remove my floor plane but keep the shadows.  Pretty standard it would seem but I must be doing something incorrectly, or trying to use the feature in a way it was not designed, because even after reading many posts and watching a lot of videos I have been unable to make it work.  Finally I tried to keep it simple and start a new file that has a plane, a sphere and an Arnold light set to skydome.  Basically I want to render the sphere where I do not see the plane but I do see the shadows.  Is that even possible.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Also, I am very new to Max after a 20 year break, and I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for all of your posts, videos, tips, tricks, forum posts and everything else that you do!

Greg

[gdona2]

So I have been doing more experimentation and I have made this simple scene work by using an HDR map for the light.  Is this normal?  Is is not an option to use a preset like a fluorescent light?

[kerrifagerlund]

hi

[kerrifagerlund]

hi

[gdona2]

Hi

[CiroCardoso3v]

Share a simple scene so that we can have a look.

[gdona2]

If you render this scene, no shadow.  If you add an .hdr to the texture on the light it works.