Ground

Ground

A piece floating in a void looks rendered; a piece standing on a floor with a shadow under it looks photographed. The Ground Plane panel gives the scene an infinite horizontal floor, stretching to the horizon in every direction — far faster to render than modelling a floor surface, and it takes any material.

• On — turns the ground plane on.
• Height above world XY plane — where the floor sits. Automatic drops it to the lowest point of the objects in the model, so the piece always stands on it rather than floating above or sinking into it.
• Show underside — makes the back of the plane visible from below; otherwise it is transparent when the camera dips under the horizon.

Effect

• Shadow only — the ground itself is invisible but still catches shadows: the piece sits on pure white with a real contact shadow under it. This is the catalog-shot setting.
• Use a material — assigns a real material to the floor, edited like any material from the Materials panel: marble for a lifestyle shot, dark leather for drama.
• Texture mapping — when the floor material carries a texture: X/Y offset, X/Y size and rotation control how it lies on the plane.