How to Disable Lighting but Keep Shadows in Arnold Distant Light?

[delizade]

Hi,

I need to have a distant light cast shadows only, without lighting the scene. However, when I disable its diffuse contribution, the shadows disappear as well. If I keep diffuse enabled (set to 1), the light naturally illuminates the scene, which I don't want. I just need the light to cast shadows without affecting the scene's lighting. How can I achieve this?

Thank you.

[lee_griggs]

The shadow matte shader has some shadow AOVs.

https://help.autodesk.com/view/ARNOL/ENU/?guid=arnold_user_guide_ac_output_aovs_ac_aovs_html

[julie856batson]

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@delizade wrote:

Hi,

I need to have a distant light cast shadows only, without lighting the scene. However, when I disable its diffuse contribution, the shadows disappear as well. If I keep diffuse enabled (set to 1), the light naturally illuminates the scene, which I don't want. I just need the light to cast shadows without affecting the scene's lighting. How can I achieve this?

Thank you.

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Hello @delizade,
To cast shadows without lighting the scene, keep diffuse enabled but set the light’s intensity to zero or use light contribution controls to disable illumination while retaining shadow casting. Alternatively, render a shadow pass separately and composite it in post. paybyplatema 

Best Regards,
Julie Batson