# Objects shadows look better before building lighting?

**URL:** <https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/objects-shadows-look-better-before-building-lighting/407274>\
**Category:** Rendering\
**Tags:** Shadows, unreal-engine, Lighting, question\
**Created:** [October 18, 2017, 12:01am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/objects-shadows-look-better-before-building-lighting/407274 "2017-10-18T00:01:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Julesob96](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Julesob96](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Julesob96)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 12:01am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/objects-shadows-look-better-before-building-lighting/407274/1 "2017-10-18T00:01:08Z")

</div>

I have a problem where my object in unreal has more realistic shadows before i build the lighting, does anyone know a fix so that i can get my object looking like it does before the lighting is built, thanks.

Below is screenshot of what is happening :

[[Album] imgur.com ![](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/a/e/6/ae6e3903a6fcbfbe0a8d1d78badce2546b980e62.jpeg "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/a/9LGds)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ecnassianer](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@Ecnassianer](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/Ecnassianer)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2017, 12:34am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/objects-shadows-look-better-before-building-lighting/407274/2 "2017-10-18T00:34:05Z")

</div>

Man, that image is a beautiful example of what’s going wrong. Worthy of being in a troubleshooting guide.

I looked into this a long time ago, but forgot what the different potential problems were. You should check your lightmap resolution first:

> **[A new, community-hosted Unreal Engine Wiki](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/a-new-community-hosted-unreal-engine-wiki/141494)**
>
> After over a year in maintenance mode, the official Unreal Engine Wiki is now permanently offline. These resources now live on a new community-run Unreal Engine Community Wiki — ue4community.wiki! You will be able to find content from the official...

This thread might help you out as well:  
[https://forums.unrealengine.com/development-discussion/content-creation/19663-tottally-black-object-after-light-rebuild-etc](https://forums.unrealengine.com/development-discussion/content-creation/19663-tottally-black-object-after-light-rebuild-etc)

Also check this one:

> **[Weird shadows from windows?](https://forums.unrealengine.com/questions/456345/weird-shadows-from-windows.html)**
>
> Hello everyone! This is my first post here so sorry if I posted it in the wrong section… Basically I am new to UE4 and I want to create windows. The problem is that I get weird blocky shadows from my windows. I also get a few warnings when building...

Sorry I don’t have a direct solution for you. Does your lighting build log have any warnings/errors in it? If you can’t find any, try posting it with your question here.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![anonymous\_user\_f26c856c1](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@anonymous\_user\_f26c856c1](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/anonymous_user_f26c856c1)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 6:45pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/objects-shadows-look-better-before-building-lighting/407274/3 "2017-11-05T18:45:57Z")

</div>

Hi!

Well before bake it’s lit dynamically!! /that’s why it looks good! 😉  
…after bake… I’d say your lightmaps are way too low!! …maybe your lightmap uv-s are not correct either…