[VSM] Circular shadow radius around camera when using Nanite foliage / PCG

System Specs:

  • Unreal Engine 5.7.4
  • Windows 11 / NVIDIA RTX 5080
  • Shadow Method: Virtual Shadow Maps (VSM)

Description:
I am a beginner in Unreal Engine 5 and I am encountering an issue where a circular shadow area follows the camera when viewing grass (Nanite foliage / PCG) from a high angle.

Shadows are only rendered within a certain radius around the camera. Beyond that radius, they disappear, creating a visible “circle” on the landscape. This occurs both in the Perspective viewport and when using a CineCamera.

What I have tried (no effect):

  • Adjusted Directional Light and Post Process Volume settings, but the radius did not change.
  • Tried the following console commands (no visible effect):
    • r.Shadow.Virtual.ResolutionLodBiasDirectional -1.5
    • r.Shadow.Virtual.ClipmapLodBias -2
  • Disabling “Cast Shadows” on the Directional Light removes the circle, but I want to extend the shadow distance, not remove shadows.
  • Setting Nanite “Keep Triangle Percent” to 0 removes the circle, but severely degrades mesh quality.

Goal:
Since I am using an RTX 5080, I would like to render high-quality shadows over a much larger distance for cinematic purposes.

Is this expected behavior in UE 5.7.4?
Are there specific Virtual Shadow Map or Nanite settings that control shadow distance or clipmap range?

I am still learning the UI, so it would help if you could also mention where these settings are located in the editor.

*Note: This post was written using a translation tool. I apologize if any part sounds unnatural.*