I can't get a set of 3D based white dots to show up in the water (or glass) shader, when applied to the density input. Not with standard and not with PT. It should give the dots in decreasing clarity towards the bottom of the lake, but they only show up on the surface. And not at all if I want to keep them just under the water surface. Does anyone have a solution for this?
Hi Ulco.
Maybe in this way?
Thanks a lot. I'll have a look.
No, it's not working. The noise is stretched and is supposed to show vertical shafts of white underwater. Not just the flats. The distribution shader is a mask to stop the white just under the water surface, so should be at the right input of the 3D noise.
Next idea please.....
Evaluate colour function volumetrically? Maybe this applies to density as well for UV based density maps. Also don't use Y. Still only on the surface, though. Maybe cause it's a flat plane.
Hmm. Something has to be wrong. This should be a working part of SSS. I can't even force it using masking in world space on a cube. Distribution seems to do nothing unless 0 or below, then it cuts out the bubbles. It doesn't even work in PT. THere doesn't appear to be any volume anymore. It's all surface effects. Tried a plane, cube, and water surface, PT, non-PT, masking water surfaces, mixing water surfaces, density alone. Nothing.
So it does work, but only when viewed from the side. So this must be a bug. So if you cut-off the bubbles before the surface, you won't see them at all.But they can be seen from a side angle if it were there. So only things against the surface are showing, nothing within the volume. So not sure SSS, whether pseudo or not, is working correctly with volumetric functions, or even UV maybe. Seems you may be right, even in PT it's not real volumetrics. Lol
As of Terragen 4.5 the Water Shader and Glass Shader's density function is not sampled within the volume. A density value is only evaluated at the surface point where the ray (e.g. camera ray) hits the surface, and that density is used to approximate the density of the volume.
That's too bad. Is volumed density planned?
That's what I was afraid of. I got it visible on the sides to, but not like increasing variable 'murk' in the density tabs. So I'll put this venture aside. Thanks for explaining Matt!
Ulco you could cheat this with an object made from stacked planes that have a mask for the dots in the opacity input.
Kinda like your image made with clouds under the water.
Not sure if this would be better then clouds but this should have no problem probably behind transparency etc. as you asked on your other thread.
That's an idea, but the edges would be pretty hard. Unless once real opacity is possible. Worth a try anyway. Thanks.
Let us know if you get something.
Thank you.
Hi Ulco,
Wish I had seen your comment in my ice render thread sooner, so I could have saved you the time trying to get this to work, because I tried this to in all kinds of ways and failed as well.
I like experimenting, keeps the brain rolling ;) And sometimes a 'lucky' combination of nodes may occur. The cloud trick could work if water/glass would be really transparent, and we can see them clearly through it.
Who knows, paraphrasing a well-known religious expression "the streets of Terragen are endless ..." ;D
;D