# Blocky Shadows in Path Tracer ?

**URL:** <https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/blocky-shadows-in-path-tracer/1249306>\
**Category:** Rendering\
**Tags:** unreal-engine, Rendering, question\
**Created:** [August 3, 2023, 9:44am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/blocky-shadows-in-path-tracer/1249306 "2023-08-03T09:44:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Data\_Vision](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/data_vision/32/1118730_2.png) [@Data\_Vision](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Data_Vision)\
**Post date:** [August 3, 2023, 9:44am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/blocky-shadows-in-path-tracer/1249306/1 "2023-08-03T09:44:52Z")

</div>

Hi,  
Currently testing Metahumans and Path Tracer in 5.2, i’ve got these blocky shadows visible on the clothing and on the mannequin. No problem in lit mode.  
After tinkering a bit, it seems to be the dynamic shadows but i’m stuck as to the exact cause and solution

First pic is PT, second is Lit.

 ![HighresScreenshot00002](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/6/b/e/6be0bc6823a3f2dade69569dfe1f7a5de19d57ba.jpeg)  
 ![HighresScreenshot00003](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/9/3/293dae9b69cb97523f9acf77826532bc609d0d6f.jpeg)

Thanks !

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![R42Brad](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@R42Brad](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/R42Brad)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 11:11am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/blocky-shadows-in-path-tracer/1249306/2 "2023-08-18T11:11:45Z")

</div>

Whilst its not the best fix I found turning off dynamic shadow on the torso removed the issue until the bug gets fixed

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Max3des](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Max3des](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Max3des)\
**Post date:** [October 26, 2023, 8:27pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/blocky-shadows-in-path-tracer/1249306/3 "2023-10-26T20:27:27Z")

</div>

The same issue for me, have you found a better solution?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![BananableOffense](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@BananableOffense](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/BananableOffense)\
**Post date:** [October 26, 2023, 8:42pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/blocky-shadows-in-path-tracer/1249306/4 "2023-10-26T20:42:04Z")

</div>

This looks like a shadow terminator problem. The only way I know to fix that with the path tracer is to use a higher polygon mesh.

[![](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/9/e/e/9eeceac775b1adc8228f0c1ed0b6e2012080e5a7.jpeg "Terminating the Shadow Terminator Problem (Jagged Shadows)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp08KAt19_M)

Here’s a detailed explanation of what is happening.