How do I get rid of blocky dynamic shadows?

NtinosFerret · June 30, 2020, 3:53am

This is an example of how the same object can look good and bad in the same project and settings. These windows have fine looking shadows when they are on the building. However, if the sun’s angle changes, they turn to this “thing” that looks like… stairs.

I tried various things including distance fields and they didn’t help a bit. I’m glad they didn’t, because everything I tried was expensive. Anyone knows a way to get high-res, sharp dynamic shadows?

I know it’s one the most ancient questions around Unreal, but I thought I would give it a shot, let’s end this once and for all!

presto423 · June 30, 2020, 6:26am

There’s a few other options, at least…but it resolving depends on the current lighting settings, and possibly the material.

Increase Shadow Resolution Scale
Increase Lightmap Resolution of the receiving surface (side of the building)
If using Cascaded Shadow Maps, increase the number of cascades and also try setting exponent to a lower value so the cascades are distributed closer to the camera
Enable “Dynamic Inset Shadow”