I have a large environment that is lit with a directional light that has a light function for simulating moving cloud shadows. On the periphery a planet rotates around the entire environment. The directional light casts shadows on the planet - ruining the believably that its far away. Can I exclude objects as is possible with Maya’s light linker?
Of course then I would need another dir light for the planet and exclude all geometry in the world which would be a major pain!
Would it be more expensive to use a Spotlight to light the world&cloud moving effect? Of course I’d still have the issue of how to light the planet…
In 4.11 you’ll have the option to use Lighting Channels with Movable objects, but this will only work with direct lighting, so it won’t work with static lighting. This will allow you to have an object not affected by a specific light.
If you just want the shadow not to cast you can select the object and in the details panel uncheck the option for “Cast Shadow” to fix this. It will be lit by the directional light, just not shadowed.