The visual style also
controls the display of backgrounds and shadows in the viewport.
Backgrounds
You can use a color, a gradient fill,
an image, or the sun & sky as a background in the viewport in
any 3D visual style, even one that does not shade objects. To use
a background, you first create a named view with a background and
set the named view as current in the viewport. When Background is
set to On in the current visual style, the background is displayed.
Shadows
Shaded objects in a viewport can display shadows.
Ground shadows are shadows that objects cast on the ground. Mapped
object shadows are shadows cast by objects onto other objects. The
lighting in the viewport must be from user-created lights or the
sun for mapped object shadows to be displayed. Where shadows overlap,
they appear darker.
NoteTo
display mapped object shadows, hardware acceleration is required. When
Enhanced 3D Performance is off, mapped object shadows cannot be
displayed. (To access these settings, enter 3dconfig at
the Command prompt. In the Adaptive Degradation and Performance
Tuning dialog box, click Manual Tune.)
Displaying
shadows can slow performance. You can turn off shadows in the current
visual style while you work and turn them back on when you need them.
In
the Properties palette, you can set the Shadow Display property
for an object: casts shadows, receives shadows, casts and receives
shadows, or ignores shadows.
More options are available
for shadows used in rendering.
To control the display
of shadows in a viewport
- Click View tab
Visual
Styles panel 
Visual
Styles Manager. 
- With the current visual style selected
in the sample images, under Lighting, Shadow Display, select Off,
Ground Shadow, or Mapped Object Shadows.
To set a solid as a viewport
background
- In the View Manager, click the view name
you want to change. If the view is not already displayed, expand
the appropriate View list, and then click a view name.
- In the Properties panel, click the Background
Override field.
- Select Solid from the Background Override
drop-down list.
- In the Background dialog box, click the
swatch under the Color section.
- In the Select Color dialog box, specify
the color you want to use for the background.
- Click OK.
- In the Background dialog box, click OK.
- In the View Manager, click Set Current.
- Click OK.
To set a gradient as a
viewport background
- In the View Manager, click the view name
you want to change. If the view isn’t already displayed, expand
the appropriate View list, and then click a view name.
- In the Properties panel, click the Background
Override field.
- Select Gradient from the Background Override
drop-down list.
- In the Background dialog box, specify
the desired options for the gradient fill.
- Select Three Color to use a two or three
color gradient fill.
- Click on the color swatches to display
the Select Color dialog box to specify the colors you want to use
for the gradient fill.
- Enter a rotation value for the gradient
fill in the Rotation text box.
- In the Background dialog box, click OK.
- In the View Manager, click Set Current.
- Click OK.
To set an image as a viewport
background
- In the View Manager, click the view name
you want to change. If the view isn’t already displayed, expand
the appropriate View list, and then click a view name.
- In the Properties panel, click the Background
Override field.
- Select Image from the Background Override
drop-down list.
- In the Background dialog box, click Browse
and specify the image for the background.
- Click Adjust Image.
- In the Adjust Background Image dialog
box, specify the desired options for the image.
- Specify the position for the image by
choosing an option from the Image Position drop-down list.
- Click Offset or Scale to adjust what
functionality the sliders have.
- Click Maintain Aspect Ratio When Scaling
to have the image scale uniformily.
- Drag the sliders to adjust the offset
or scale of the image based on the current setting.
- In the Adjust Background Image dialog
box, click OK.
- In the Background dialog box, click OK.
- In the View Manager, click Set Current.
- Click OK.
To set a Sun/Sky as a viewport
background
- Before changing the background, make
sure that photometric lighting is enabled:
- Click Render tab Lights panel American Lighting Units
- Click Render tab Lights panel International Lighting Units
- In the View Manager, click the view name
you want to change. If the view isn’t already displayed, expand
the appropriate View list, and then click a view name.
- In the middle section, click the Background
Override drop-down list and select Sun&Sky.
- In the Adjust Sun & Sky Background
dialog box, specify the desired options for the background.
- Click OK.
- In the View Manager, click Set Current.
Click OK.
CommandsVIEWVISUALSTYLES
Creates and modifies
visual styles and applies a visual style to a viewport.
System VariablesCSHADOW
Sets the shadow display
property for a 3D object.
LIGHTINGUNITS
Controls whether generic
or photometric lights are used, and specifies the lighting units
for the drawing.
SHADOWPLANELOCATION
Controls the location
of an invisible ground plane used to display shadows.
VSBACKGROUNDS
Controls whether backgrounds
are displayed in the visual style applied to the current viewport.
VSSHADOWS
Controls whether a visual
style displays shadows.
VISUALSTYLESCLOSE
Closes the Visual Styles
Manager.
