Open a 3D view, and then click analysis mode on the View toolbar. On the View menu, click Display Shadows. This option will turn on shadow display mode, and it will turn off the grid display from the 3D view. Shadows will not be displayed in wireframe or transparent views.
After you have input the geometry and set the orientation of the building, you will be able to enter the geographical coordinates which will define the location of the building on the surface of the earth. These coordinates will then be used, along with the orientation, to determine at each hour the position of the sun relative to the building. Shadows will be based on the sun position, which is determined by the Sun Position dialog.
Shadows cast by the subject building will be displayed on nearby objects, itself, and an arbitrary horizontal plane beneath the lowest visible floor (this means it can be below a basement or above a lower floor which isn't displayed). Although shadows will be displayed on the lowest level, solar gain will not fall on the outside ground surface when the building element's "ground" property is enabled on the Building Elements dialog.
The software will display sun patches on the various polygons for the external and internal surfaces of the building. If building elements or windows have "internal shadows" enabled, then shadows will be displayed inside the building. Sun patches will be displayed on surfaces inside the building, the sunlight having been admitted through transparent building elements, using a technique known as "solar tracking". The direct component of solar radiation will be beamed into the building, and then tracked geometrically onto other surfaces at each hour. The software will calculate the proportion of direct solar radiation entering through the "tracked" surface which is intercepted by the receiving surface.