CGTalk - Volume light through windows

View Full Version : Volume light through windows

Tronotrond

01-14-2006, 04:30 PM

Hey!

I'm working on an interior scene for an animation where I want the sunlight to be volumertic as it goes through the windows in the room.
During the scene you'll see both inside and the outside simultaniously, but since I have the volume light effect placed on the "sun" everything outside is all foggy/greyed out.

Is there any way I can get the volume light to start as it goes through the windows?
Placing a light right infront of the windows is something I've considered, but I'm not really sure how to set that up in my scene and get it to look ok. I'll add a wip picture of the scene so you can see how the windows are placed.

I'm using Max 8.

http://sw.it.no/%7Eaqira/cabin005_small.jpg

soulburn3d

01-14-2006, 05:05 PM

Try adjusting the near attenuation on the light so that it starts just a little outside the window, that will tell max where to start your volumetrics as well.

You could also try rendering the volumetric light as a seperate pass and composite it into your scene in a compositing package like shake, digital fusion, even photoshop, that would let you post process the volumetrics to avoid some of the milkiness that's happening outdoors.

- Neil

Tronotrond

01-15-2006, 11:45 AM

Thanks for the reply :)

I've tried adjusting the near attenuation, but because of the light direction and since the windows are placed in an arch it doesn't work very well.

I've also thought about composting, but was just hoping there was an easier solution. I've never tired rendered in layers and was hoping I could avoid it as the deadline monster aproaches ;)

soulburn3d

01-16-2006, 03:46 PM

I've also thought about composting, but was just hoping there was an easier solution. I've never tired rendered in layers and was hoping I could avoid it as the deadline monster aproaches ;)

Sorry to hear that. But before your next deadline, I'd really do some playing with compositing, because when the next job comes along, compositing stuff can save you SOOOO much time.

- Neil

CGTalk Moderation

01-16-2006, 03:46 PM

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.