# Real time shadows in rendered display mode

**URL:** <https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/real-time-shadows-in-rendered-display-mode/88223>\
**Category:** Rhino for Windows\
**Created:** [August 30, 2019, 8:16pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/real-time-shadows-in-rendered-display-mode/88223 "2019-08-30T20:16:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 13\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mbabcock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/mbabcock/32/428201_2.png) [@mbabcock](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/mbabcock)\
**Post date:** [August 30, 2019, 8:16pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/real-time-shadows-in-rendered-display-mode/88223/1 "2019-08-30T20:16:50Z")

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How can I get the rendered display mode to show more or less accurate shadows while I’m working on a model? What I see in rendered mode has shadows that are simplified, somewhat random looking, and sometimes missing. If I go to the rendering tools and click the blue sphere “render” button it opens a separate window that renders the image accurately, though very slowly. Any way to improve what I see in real time?

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**Author:** ![AlanMattano](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/alanmattano/32/483292_2.png) [@AlanMattano](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/AlanMattano)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2019, 12:24am UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/real-time-shadows-in-rendered-display-mode/88223/2 "2019-08-31T00:24:05Z")

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Can you upload a screenshot?

What GPU are you using?  
GPU software has a control panel that usually has default rendering settings. You can increase the quality from there:

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/uploads/default/original/3X/f/d/fd0356e064193f0cc036d5a3064b8057f51039af.jpeg)

Did you try to look into View \> DisplayMode \> Rendered \> Shadow ?

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**Author:** ![mbabcock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/mbabcock/32/428201_2.png) [@mbabcock](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/mbabcock)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 3:34pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/real-time-shadows-in-rendered-display-mode/88223/3 "2019-09-03T15:34:08Z")

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Alan,

Screenshots attached. GPU is NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M. GPU controls set to max quality. Shadows turned on. Note that shadows of red letters (visible in rhino render) are not present in perspective viewport. All objects and materials set to cast and receive shadows. Rhino version 6 SR18, updated 8/27/2019. Windows 7 64-bit machine with 2.40 GHz Intel i7-4700MQ CPU and 16GB RAM.

Thanks,  
Matt

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**Author:** ![mbabcock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/mbabcock/32/428201_2.png) [@mbabcock](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/mbabcock)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 3:44pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/real-time-shadows-in-rendered-display-mode/88223/4 "2019-09-03T15:44:52Z")

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whoops, forgot the uploads. here they are

 ![nvidia_control](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/uploads/default/original/3X/c/9/c9de447f56501a5931ae1cfbcd360085826a61de.jpeg) ![perspective_and_shadow_settings](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/uploads/default/original/3X/6/a/6a552a34111ed6492dff90ab97aaed8b5bc93085.jpeg) ![rhino_render](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/uploads/default/original/3X/9/f/9f651a8baed97a73955f4a5ae7f47f88dd14cd0d.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![wim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/wim/32/747482_2.png) [@wim](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/wim)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 6:04pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/real-time-shadows-in-rendered-display-mode/88223/5 "2019-09-03T18:04:41Z")

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Hi Matt - could you post the 3dm file with just the red words and the green backdrop?  
-wim

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**Author:** ![mbabcock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/mbabcock/32/428201_2.png) [@mbabcock](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/mbabcock)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 9:04pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/real-time-shadows-in-rendered-display-mode/88223/6 "2019-09-03T21:04:57Z")

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Wim,  
Here it is. Thanks for your help.

- Matt[Babcock\_Gatos.3dm](https://discourse.mcneel.com/uploads/short-url/kN0LWHuipYiva9PKJmWprvLidnV.3dm) (5.8 MB)

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**Author:** ![Holo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/holo/32/496872_2.png) [@Holo](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/Holo)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 9:11pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/real-time-shadows-in-rendered-display-mode/88223/7 "2019-09-03T21:11:23Z")

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I have the same gpu in my macbook that runs Windows 10 in bootcamp and this is what your file looks like when I open it:

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/uploads/default/original/3X/4/b/4b3b2d9c52e93174b4c9bf81e8b6237555811376.png)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mbabcock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/mbabcock/32/428201_2.png) [@mbabcock](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/mbabcock)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 9:55pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/real-time-shadows-in-rendered-display-mode/88223/8 "2019-09-03T21:55:14Z")

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Holo,  
Thanks. How does it look on your macbook if you render it?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Holo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/holo/32/496872_2.png) [@Holo](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/Holo)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 10:02pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/real-time-shadows-in-rendered-display-mode/88223/9 "2019-09-03T22:02:45Z")

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This is the other side, I just opened the file and screengrabbed on that first image 🙂

Rendered and OpenGL:

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/uploads/default/original/3X/c/9/c9c53125f6699dc839476b7e21f11c4bd2439e7e.png)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mbabcock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/mbabcock/32/428201_2.png) [@mbabcock](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/mbabcock)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2019, 10:56pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/real-time-shadows-in-rendered-display-mode/88223/10 "2019-09-03T22:56:46Z")

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Thanks! You get nice looking shadows in OpenGL and I don’t – do you have any thoughts as to why that might be?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![3dsynergy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/3dsynergy/32/770156_2.png) [@3dsynergy](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/3dsynergy)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 3:32am UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/real-time-shadows-in-rendered-display-mode/88223/11 "2019-09-04T03:32:46Z")

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Two things you might check,  
Skylight might be too bright, turn it off just to check if you shadows are being blown out  
Or go into the display mode you are using and in options up the shadow slider to get sharper shadows,  
Also sometimes the ground plane doesn’t receive shadows as nicely as a real plane could try that as well.  
RM

 ![Shadow_settings_area](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/uploads/default/original/3X/1/a/1af284388766f561b3a9c172e05d097f11397553.jpeg)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Holo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/holo/32/496872_2.png) [@Holo](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/Holo)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 6:48am UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/real-time-shadows-in-rendered-display-mode/88223/12 "2019-09-04T06:48:53Z")

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> [@mbabcock](#):
>
> do you have any thoughts as to why that might be?

I think your system isn’t using the nVidia card. It’s probably a dual card setup which has a low end intel graphicchip too, and Rhino has never truly mastered the art of using the right one. So go into the advanced settings of the nVidia driver and add Rhino (or adjust Rhino settings if present) and then scroll to the bottom and set the “Primary OpenGL Graphicprocessor” to the nVidia card.

(I don’t have a profile for Rhino on this system (My workstation) since I only have one GPU, so excuse me using “Adobe Acrobat” as an example 🙂 )

![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/uploads/default/original/3X/1/b/1b8e25cfa3112e0b3fbb586a34f9afd2c7f72601.png)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mbabcock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/mcneel/user_avatar/discourse.mcneel.com/mbabcock/32/428201_2.png) [@mbabcock](https://discourse.mcneel.com/u/mbabcock)\
**Post date:** [September 4, 2019, 3:06pm UTC](https://discourse.mcneel.com/t/real-time-shadows-in-rendered-display-mode/88223/13 "2019-09-04T15:06:50Z")

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Holo,  
Thanks a million! NVIDIA settings fixed this and at least one other problem I’ve been having.

- Matt