freaking bizarre issues with spotlights

Development Rendering
1

Ok, I’ve so I’ve setup three spotlights attached to my camera (for a flashlight w/ rings effect), and I’m having a problem where they REFUSE to cast any shadow at all. It gets even more bizarre because if I don’t have these settings checked, I get crazy frame drops.

horrible frame drop without these settings.png
horrible frame drop without these settings.png1920×1080 415 KB

1920×1080 250 KB

I could be interpreting this wrong, but wouldn’t those settings A) Force the flashlight to cast shadows and B) Shouldn’t the whole thing run better without those settings checked? I seriously feel like this is a case of me being horribly misinformed. Somebody help?

(before you ask, yes I have triple checked all of the ‘cast shadow’ and lightmap resolution settings. I’ve gone over everything I can think of multiple times. I’ve actually placed another spot light near the wall and it did in fact cast a shadow. So it’s gotta be something in the spotlights in my character’s blueprint thats messing it up.)

Why do these settings (circled in the photo above) cost performance if unchecked?
How do I get these spotlights to cast shadows?

2

This setup is inefficient anyway. You should not use multiple spotlights like that. To get ring patterns in your spotlight you should use a IES profile instead. That will prevent you from having to render three separate and expensive shadowmapped spots.

3

Duly noted. But I would still like to know what these things are and why none of the three of my lights will cast any shadows. I’m still basically just starting to learn Unreal and all I have to go on is whatever I find on the internet.

4

UPDATE: I’ve gotten rid of the two other spotlights and set up an ies profile, but still no shadows.

5

I noticed your camera and the spotlights are in the same position. Could it be that shadows are being cast but, due to the identical angle/placement of the camera and light, you don’t see any shadows? For example, try moving the spotlight(s) lower or off to the side a bit.