Lewis McGregor is a certified BlackMagic Design DaVinci Resolve Trainer. There are some discrepancies between digital and real, and I would, of course, prefer the real deal, but to conclude, when recreating cast shadows, itвЂ™s not so much about darkening an area rather, itвЂ™s about the saturation and intensity of a mask. IвЂ™ve also angled the top of the mask to spill onto the roof, making the shadow look more natural. In the completed (but ungraded) still above, IвЂ™ve moved my digital shadow across and also expanded the real shadow in the cornerВ becauseВ the background looked uneven.В The new digital shadow in the corner perfectly blends in with the actual shadow, which tells me the mask has worked. Therefore, I would suggest implementing a small feather - no more than 1.5, or it will look unnatural. While shadows arenвЂ™t extremely feathered, at a distance, they are not sharp either. However, if you lower the opacity to 75, youвЂ™ll find that the mask naturally conforms to the luminance of that area.

Initially, I thought I might have to use a gradient to replicate the effectВ for the digital shadow. Looking at the furnace pipe on the right-hand side of the composition, we can see the shadow is darker at the bottom, which is parallel to the 1k Fresnel outside - and as we travel up the pipe, away from the fallout area of the light, the shadowвЂ™s density weakens. One thing to note about real shadows is that the strength or density of the shadowВ is more substantialВ if itвЂ™s closer or parallel to the obstruction. The exact setting will differ from shot to shot, but IвЂ™ve reduced mine -12.0. Therefore, the key isnвЂ™t to lower the shadows/lift but to decrease the saturation. In low light, thereвЂ™s less light to reflect,В so objectsВ get desaturated. As I mentioned earlier, creating a shadow isnвЂ™t necessarily about creating a mask and lowering the shadow settings in fact, that would look horrible. The only adjustment we are going to make is to lower the midtones very slightly. ThisВ will slightly increase the brightness of the background to make our shadows stand out a little more.Д¬reate a second node, and here you want to create another mask based on the shape you want your shadow to take. WeвЂ™re going to lower the overall exposure later, so it doesnвЂ™t need to be too drastic - just a few increments. Here, you want to increase the midtones slightly. It would be best to implement the shadows before grading.ДЇirst, create a new node, mask around your subject and hit the invert mask option. In Resolve, import your footage, and head to the color page. It was a creative choice not to replicate the exact lighting setup, but, for the sake of the tutorial, letвЂ™s say that the director now wantsВ those windowВ shutter shadows back in to add some interest to the background (not that itвЂ™s a stretch to consider such aВ request from a director). This still below takes place in the same location but at a later timeВ in the story. With the light divided by the flag, it gives the background contrast, which adds an exciting dynamic to the composition. Leaving the scene with no illumination at all was dull, and simply lighting the background with the 650w was too excessive - diffused or not. In the example below, I had a 650w Fresnel diffused through a 3/4 stop diffusion sheet, whichВ I then cut with a 10вЂіx12вЂі scrim/flag to divide the light on the background - as if the half-open window shutters were obstructing the sunlight.

When weВ see a shadowВ spread across a wall, itвЂ™s because there is an object between it and a light source. When we think about an area of the room that is darker, itвЂ™s because thereвЂ™s less light, or no light, reaching that area. And while, to some extent, that is what we are going to do, it wouldnвЂ™t be correct to say thatвЂ™s it. ThereвЂ™s a common misconception about recreating shadows, and itвЂ™s that you simply make the area darker. So letвЂ™sВ take a look at creating a cast shadow inside of DaVinci Resolve. But, we donвЂ™t live in a perfect world, and mistakes happen. WeвЂ™re about to discussВ creating something digitallyВ that we should have just captured with theВ camera. Find out how you can add (realistic) shadows to a composition using DaVinci Resolve. Even the most organized lighting setups can need tweaking in post.

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