I am new ish to Rhino, as I have to use it for my program, and recently needed to use the sun feature to cast a shadow over some objects, unfortunately it does not work, instead it casts a random square shape (as you can see from the picture). I’ve tried everything from updating my computer, reinstalling, and following recommendations from google, Reddit, and this forum, but it seems like this hasn’t happened to anyone else before. Anyone know the solution?
For context I use a 2020 Macbook Pro, recently updated. I am using Rhino 8. I have some plugins installed to use on grasshopper.
I have already tried toggling the ground plane, maximized the shadow features for the rendered viewport in the options display modes, I’ve scaled my object down (as the file is quite large), tried moving my object to a new file, object is at the origin, and everything that needs to be turned on is already on, such as object cast a shadow.
My friend has the same computer and the shadow/sun feature works normally on hers so I dont think it is a computer issue.
Hi Irem -
Please run the Rhino SystemInfo command and copy-paste the output here.
Also, when you export one of those objects to a new 3dm file, do you see the same behavior in that new file? If so, please post that new file here as well.
-wim
Hi @Irem3
To add to @wim’s comments, is your model by any chance placed very far from origin? This will often mess with things like shadows and display meshes.
-Jakob
I do see the same behaviour in the new file, in fact if I were to create a new file and create a completely new design, the same behaviour will be repeated.
Apple macOS Version 15.3.2 (Build 24D81) (Physical RAM: 16GB)
Mac Model Identifier: MacBookPro16,2
Language: en-CA (MacOS default)
.NET 7.0.0
Metal GPU Family Apple 0
Metal GPU Family Common 3
Metal GPU Family Mac 2
Graphics processors
Intel Iris Plus Graphics (1536 MB)
Color LCD (1440 x 900)
GPU Vendor: Intel
USB devices
Apple Inc.: Touch Bar Backlight
Apple Inc.: Touch Bar Display
Apple Inc.: Apple Internal Keyboard / Trackpad
Apple: Headset
Apple Inc.: Ambient Light Sensor
Apple Inc.: FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)
Apple Inc.: Apple T2 Controller
My friends own file works fine on her computer, I mentioned this for context that we have the same computer as some might say that the blame could be on my computer and its system graphics…
But I did attempt to open my file on another friends PC and the shadow feature ended up working normally. So i am not really sure what the issue is.
Could you also post the SystemInfo data from her computer?
Apart from that, what happens when you restore the display mode that you use to the defaults?
Does it also look like that when using the Raytraced display mode or when using the Render command?
-wim
on raytranced and rendered command it works alright but that is more time consuming to render, which is why im looking to learn how to solve this issue for convenience.
As for my friends:
Rhino 8 SR17 2025-3-7 (Rhino 8, 8.17.25066.07002, Git hash:master @ b14fcd901289f8715631debb308bc919a4988e07)
License type: Educational, build 2025-03-07
License details: Cloud Zoo
Apple macOS Version 14.6.1 (Build 23G93) (Physical RAM: 8GB)
Mac Model Identifier: MacBookPro17,1
Language: en-CA (MacOS default)
.NET 7.0.0
Metal GPU Family Apple 7
Metal GPU Family Common 3
Metal GPU Family Mac 2
Graphics processors
Apple M1
Color LCD (1440 x 900 @ 60.00Hz)
GPU Vendor: Apple
