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Interface: ShadowSettings

Defines how shadows are rendered in the 3D scene.

The ShadowSettings interface controls the quality, appearance, and behavior of shadows cast by lights in the scene. Shadows significantly enhance visual realism by showing how objects interact with light and rest on surfaces. These settings balance shadow quality against performance considerations.

Well-configured shadows add depth and grounding to products without creating distracting artifacts or excessive darkness.

Example​

// Creating high-quality, slightly soft shadows
const shadows = {
  resolution: 1024,          // Higher resolution for sharper shadows
  bias: 0.00005,             // Reduce shadow acne/artifacts
  normalBias: 0.01,          // Further reduce artifacts on sloped surfaces
  darkness: 0.7,             // Shadows are 70% dark (not completely black)
  useContactHardeningShadow: true  // Shadows get sharper near contact points
};

Properties​

bias?​

optional bias: number

Offset value to prevent shadow acne artifacts.

A small positive value helps eliminate the speckled pattern that can appear on surfaces due to precision limitations.

contactHardeningLightSizeUVRatio?​

optional contactHardeningLightSizeUVRatio: number

Controls the rate of shadow hardening near contact points.

Higher values cause shadows to become sharp more quickly near where objects contact surfaces.

darkness?​

optional darkness: number

Controls how dark shadows appear (0-1).

Lower values create lighter, less intense shadows, which can be useful for creating a softer lighting atmosphere.

lightIndex?​

optional lightIndex: number

Index of the light that casts these shadows.

When multiple lights can cast shadows, this determines which light these shadow settings apply to.

normalBias?​

optional normalBias: number

Additional bias along surface normals to prevent artifacts.

This helps reduce shadow artifacts on surfaces that are nearly parallel to the light direction.

resolution?​

optional resolution: number

Texture resolution used for shadow maps.

Higher values create sharper, more detailed shadows at the cost of performance and memory usage.

useContactHardeningShadow?​

optional useContactHardeningShadow: boolean

When true, shadows get sharper near contact points.

This creates more realistic shadows that are softer farther from objects and crisper where objects meet surfaces.