# Player mesh leaves shadow residues on ground when moving **URL:** \ **Category:** Character & Animation\ **Tags:** unreal-engine, question\ **Created:** [December 9, 2023, 10:59am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/player-mesh-leaves-shadow-residues-on-ground-when-moving/1509986 "2023-12-09T10:59:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ZkouskaMikrofonu](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/zkouskamikrofonu/32/88716_2.png) [@ZkouskaMikrofonu](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/ZkouskaMikrofonu)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 10:59am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/player-mesh-leaves-shadow-residues-on-ground-when-moving/1509986/1 "2023-12-09T10:59:02Z")
Hello, Does anybody have an idea why a character leaves a shadow on the ground when moving? I experienced this with Toon Tiny Assets from the store. In the picture, i move to the right and it leaves the shadow residues as shown. Tested it on different surfaces, landscapes, etc… Not experienced this with other meshes so far… (like the UE mannequin does not make this). Thank you for your help. ![shadow](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/9/6/7/9671ea35cfe3537931edf7f1db662a9f4b874980.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![ClockworkOcean](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/clockworkocean/32/1169999_2.png) [@ClockworkOcean](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/ClockworkOcean)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2023, 11:33am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/player-mesh-leaves-shadow-residues-on-ground-when-moving/1509986/2 "2023-12-09T11:33:12Z")
I think it may be a case of this > [@Lingering shadows that stick to the ground after movement - how to resolve?](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/lingering-shadows-that-stick-to-the-ground-after-movement-how-to-resolve/794898/4): > > [image] So running the game, and then running the command r.Shadow.Virtual.Cache.DrawInvalidatingBounds 1 Shows the above image. Note that the top of my staff is sticking out. That is the culprit and what is causing the issues with “shadows sticking/lingering”.w How to Fix There were two ways that would accomplish the fix. The first is going into the skeletal mesh of the character in blueprint, (make sure the skeletal mesh is selected) and pulling its Bounds Scale. [image] Bumping this… ---
**Author:** ![feralmoans](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/feralmoans/32/974428_2.png) [@feralmoans](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/feralmoans)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2024, 4:45pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/player-mesh-leaves-shadow-residues-on-ground-when-moving/1509986/3 "2024-11-28T16:45:09Z")
I ran into this issue with 3rd party models and found the solution mentioned above about a month or two ago. However, this is also happening to me with default template projects (using the default engine mannequin), and I noticed that it seems to occur if I switch from Medium quality to High without restarting the engine. Restarting the engine after changing the quality slider seems to fix the issue. I’m wondering if there is some sort of cache that isn’t updating or invalidating properly? ![image](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/e/a/c/eac3aaceac85dfde61e92ff7d5bc87be10321355.jpeg) edit: Well, not even an hour later I’ve been exclusively working in the engine on High and the shadow residue thing is still an issue with the default mannequin. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![donuzusta](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/donuzusta/32/902790_2.png) [@donuzusta](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/donuzusta)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2024, 7:32pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/player-mesh-leaves-shadow-residues-on-ground-when-moving/1509986/4 "2024-12-27T19:32:49Z")
Find which object cause of this. You can try set off cast shadow options one by one. For Example: My actor feet reasoning of this shadow stain. When you find object(s) set off Set false; Lighting → Advanced → Dynamic Shadow ---
**Author:** ![MillerManeo](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@MillerManeo](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/MillerManeo)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2025, 2:01am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/player-mesh-leaves-shadow-residues-on-ground-when-moving/1509986/5 "2025-01-24T02:01:46Z")
Turn off virtual shadow maps. ---
**Author:** ![mrpdean](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@mrpdean](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/mrpdean)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2025, 4:58am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/player-mesh-leaves-shadow-residues-on-ground-when-moving/1509986/6 "2025-01-25T04:58:13Z")
This happens to me when the character doesn’t have a physics asset assigned. I know it sounds strange, but I believe that the physics asset is used to calculate the mesh bounds which are then used in the virtual shadow system to figure out when to invalidate the shadows etc. Just give you character the simplest physics asset so long as the bounds of the physics assets cover the bounds of the character mesh… it should fix it.