PPSMShadow flickering

Troubleshooting graphics
1

Just asking, cause i really wonder why the shadows messes seriously up in this example (hard flickering nearly everywhere). Is there a way how this can be workarounded, or a way to make this work anyway?





[java]



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    package jme3test.light;



    import com.jme3.app.SimpleApplication;

    import com.jme3.input.KeyInput;

    import com.jme3.input.controls.ActionListener;

    import com.jme3.input.controls.KeyTrigger;

    import com.jme3.material.Material;

    import com.jme3.math.ColorRGBA;

    import com.jme3.math.Quaternion;

    import com.jme3.math.Vector3f;

    import com.jme3.renderer.queue.RenderQueue.ShadowMode;

    import com.jme3.scene.Geometry;

    import com.jme3.scene.Spatial;

    import com.jme3.scene.shape.Box;

    import com.jme3.scene.shape.Sphere;

    import com.jme3.shadow.PssmShadowRenderer;

    import com.jme3.shadow.PssmShadowRenderer.CompareMode;

    import com.jme3.shadow.PssmShadowRenderer.FilterMode;

    import java.util.Random;



    public class TestPssmShadow extends SimpleApplication implements ActionListener {



    private Spatial teapot;

    private boolean renderShadows = true;

    private boolean hardwareShadows = false;

    private PssmShadowRenderer pssmRenderer;



    public static void main(String[] args){

    TestPssmShadow app = new TestPssmShadow();

    app.start();

    }



    public void loadScene(){

    Material mat = assetManager.loadMaterial("Common/Materials/RedColor.j3m");

    Material matSoil = new Material(assetManager,"Common/MatDefs/Misc/Unshaded.j3md");

    matSoil.setColor("Color", ColorRGBA.Cyan);



    teapot = new Geometry("sphere", new Box(3, 3, 2));

    // teapot = new Geometry("cube", new Box(1.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f));

    // teapot = assetManager.loadModel("Models/Teapot/Teapot.obj");

    teapot.setLocalTranslation(0,0,10);



    teapot.setMaterial(mat);

    teapot.setShadowMode(ShadowMode.CastAndReceive);

    rootNode.attachChild(teapot);



    long seed = 1294719330150L; //System.currentTimeMillis();

    Random random = new Random(seed);

    System.out.println(seed);



    for (int i = 0; i < 30; i++) {

    Spatial t = teapot.clone(false);

    rootNode.attachChild(t);

    teapot.setLocalTranslation((float) random.nextFloat() * 3, (float) random.nextFloat() * 3, (i + 2));

    }



    Geometry soil = new Geometry("soil", new Box(new Vector3f(0, -13, 550), 800, 10, 700));

    soil.setMaterial(matSoil);

    soil.setShadowMode(ShadowMode.CastAndReceive);

    rootNode.attachChild(soil);



    for (int i = 0; i < 30; i++) {

    Spatial t = teapot.clone(false);

    t.setLocalScale(10.0f);

    rootNode.attachChild(t);

    teapot.setLocalTranslation((float) random.nextFloat() * 300, (float) random.nextFloat() * 30, 30 * (i + 2));

    }

    }



    @Override

    public void simpleInitApp() {

    // put the camera in a bad position

    cam.setLocation(new Vector3f(41.59757f, 34.38738f, 11.528807f));

    cam.setRotation(new Quaternion(0.2905285f, 0.3816416f, -0.12772122f, 0.86811876f));

    flyCam.setMoveSpeed(100);



    loadScene();



    pssmRenderer = new PssmShadowRenderer(assetManager, 256 , 2);

    pssmRenderer.setDirection(new Vector3f(0, -1, 0).normalizeLocal());

    pssmRenderer.setLambda(0.55f);

    pssmRenderer.setShadowIntensity(0.6f);

    pssmRenderer.setCompareMode(CompareMode.Software);

    pssmRenderer.setFilterMode(FilterMode.PCF8);

    pssmRenderer.setEdgesThickness(1);

    pssmRenderer.setShadowZExtend(500);

    pssmRenderer.displayDebug();

    viewPort.addProcessor(pssmRenderer);

    initInputs();

    }



    private void initInputs() {

    inputManager.addMapping("toggle", new KeyTrigger(KeyInput.KEY_SPACE));

    inputManager.addMapping("ShadowUp", new KeyTrigger(KeyInput.KEY_T));

    inputManager.addMapping("ShadowDown", new KeyTrigger(KeyInput.KEY_G));

    inputManager.addMapping("ThicknessUp", new KeyTrigger(KeyInput.KEY_Y));

    inputManager.addMapping("ThicknessDown", new KeyTrigger(KeyInput.KEY_H));

    inputManager.addMapping("lambdaUp", new KeyTrigger(KeyInput.KEY_U));

    inputManager.addMapping("lambdaDown", new KeyTrigger(KeyInput.KEY_J));

    inputManager.addMapping("toggleHW", new KeyTrigger(KeyInput.KEY_RETURN));

    inputManager.addListener(this, "lambdaUp", "lambdaDown", "toggleHW", "toggle", "ShadowUp","ShadowDown","ThicknessUp","ThicknessDown");

    }



    public void onAction(String name, boolean keyPressed, float tpf) {

    if (name.equals("toggle") && keyPressed) {

    if (renderShadows) {

    renderShadows = false;

    viewPort.removeProcessor(pssmRenderer);

    } else {

    renderShadows = true;

    viewPort.addProcessor(pssmRenderer);

    }

    } else if (name.equals("toggleHW") && keyPressed) {

    hardwareShadows = !hardwareShadows;

    pssmRenderer.setCompareMode(hardwareShadows ? CompareMode.Hardware : CompareMode.Software);

    System.out.println("HW Shadows: " + hardwareShadows);

    }



    if (name.equals("lambdaUp") && keyPressed) {

    pssmRenderer.setLambda(pssmRenderer.getLambda() + 0.01f);

    System.out.println("Lambda : " + pssmRenderer.getLambda());

    } else if (name.equals("lambdaDown") && keyPressed) {

    pssmRenderer.setLambda(pssmRenderer.getLambda() - 0.01f);

    System.out.println("Lambda : " + pssmRenderer.getLambda());

    }



    if (name.equals("ShadowUp") && keyPressed) {

    pssmRenderer.setShadowIntensity(pssmRenderer.getShadowIntensity() + 0.1f);

    System.out.println("Shadow intensity : " + pssmRenderer.getShadowIntensity());

    }

    if (name.equals("ShadowDown") && keyPressed) {

    pssmRenderer.setShadowIntensity(pssmRenderer.getShadowIntensity() - 0.1f);

    System.out.println("Shadow intensity : " + pssmRenderer.getShadowIntensity());

    }

    if (name.equals("ThicknessUp") && keyPressed) {

    pssmRenderer.setEdgesThickness(pssmRenderer.getEdgesThickness() + 1);

    System.out.println("Shadow thickness : " + pssmRenderer.getEdgesThickness());

    }

    if (name.equals("ThicknessDown") && keyPressed) {

    pssmRenderer.setEdgesThickness(pssmRenderer.getEdgesThickness() - 1);

    System.out.println("Shadow thickness : " + pssmRenderer.getEdgesThickness());

    }

    }





    }



    [/java]
2

I’d go with at least 3 angles for the PSSM renderer, so

[java]

pssmRenderer = new PssmShadowRenderer(assetManager, 256 , 3);

[/java]

3

Well yeah, I would usually, but the problem is the same, it is just much clearer visible that way.

4

Well since the geometry is scaled so large the 256-sized texture to display the shadow probably doesn’t suffice here…

5

Well even with a 4096*2 map the flickering still happens, so I assume that is not the problem.

The debug images look correct and does not flicker at all btw, it is only the projection into the 3dscene that seems to be causing that flickering.

6

Isn’t this the XMAS tree problem? The only way to fix it is not to use straight vectors like 0, -1, 0 for the shadow direction

7

Yes that’s the issue, @EmpirePhoenix just test 0,0.99f,0 for direction and see if it fixes the issue.



I still have no clue on this issue…

8

Well thats the problem, I have situations where I cannot prohibit that degree from where the lights is coming in relation to the objects. Seems like I have to learn shadowing with shaders then and see if I find a solutions :confused: