Sounds like me! And now I want more control… and next I will probably wish for even more… sorry about that Jeff! 
Not a problem.
-J
I will test out the script and show you a desired default if you like.
Sure.
The issue right now is the ambiguity between the already existing “Shadow Intensity” for lights, and this new addition. Should the display mode override the light properties, should it factor the two, or should it accumulate the two settings? The latter can get confusing because if a light has it set to 60% and the display mode has it set to 40% or higher, then you’ll get no shadows at all.
-J
No testcommand to manually set Zdepth min-max distance?
The way I see it Display Mode setting would be a multiplier of per-light settings. So if light is 60% and DM is 40%, it would be 0.4 x 0.6 = 0.24. (24%)
Any method(s) which achieves the desired result with ease, and if there are two or more methods, fine.
In ‘another’ application, often I achieve the desired shadow intensity by changing the shadow color - from black to a shade of gray that results in the desired effect. This is helpful when the light intensity is already dialed in for everything else and I don’t want to muck with that just to tweak shadow intensity.
My thoughts exactly.
I think of shadows as a photohop multiply layer in the pipeline, so the intensity setting in the display mode would just be like an opacity setting for this entire shadow layer.
Yep, that was what was meant by “factored”… and I agree that’s the one that makes most sense…but when has that ever meant that’s what should be done 
-J
Then why don’t you do the same thing in Rhino? The whole point of this discussion is that simply changing the shadow color isn’t enough.
-J
I think what he means is that a lighter color means less shadow in that app, not a light gray shadow as in my first picture.
Like for lights, you can set intensity by using a dark color.
I too expected less shadow when I sat the shadowcolor to a lighter gray, sothat’s why I think this is what he meant.
I see, thanks.
-J
Correct, Holo. As we both described - means to dial-in intensity.
All I really meant to do was support the concept that more than one way to achieve the desired result is ok, imo. And, I find it helpful at times to have overall light intensity AND shadow intensity independently adjustable. If my shadows are too hard and dark, finding the right shade of gray as shadow color (in a white studio) does the trick.
oh somehow I missed the announcement and didn’t know the YT item to track. Great, I will update the WIP and check it out this weekend to report back. Thanks!
Sorry man, had a crazy week and have not had time to test wip either. Will do to night!
hi @Jeff,
that works great and exactly as expected in terms of adjusting global shadow intensity via Display Mode setting. Thank you for adding this.
If I was to get picky about the UI: Slider would be more practical, or at least the little up/down arrows by the number should respond to dragging for more seamless experience when tweaking this setting. You hardly ever go by number with this - it’s more of an eyeballing what looks good so seeing it real-time as you change it would be the best.
thanks again!
–jarek
@jeff
This seems perfect! Thanks for adding that SOO fast!
I will explore it more, but rhight now it seems to be just what we wanted.
@Jarek
If you put your marker in the text field you can use the arrow up and down to “slide” the value up and down in realtime too.
BUT there is a small “bug” that pops up if you backspace the field to empty:
I think it should read “empty” as 0 and not pop this error since it makes it difficult to type 20 and then backspace to type 30.
It’s fantastic that it updates the view live while we type though!
Cheers!
Agreed…chalk it up as me being lazy 
I’ll change it…however, @Holo seems to like it (or tolerate) the spinner control… so I don’t want to change something that’s just going flip the discussion direction. If a slider is really the preferred control here, then I’ll change it…I think Jorgen’s initial request even mentioned a slider…so I think we’ll be ok…but just want confirmation…
Thanks,
-Jeff
realtime slider!
As jarek said, this is about getting the feel right so a slider is super! (With numerical option)