Simply Maya User Community - problem with light fog...

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problem with light fog...

i want light coming form this box like a bad serie Z movie special effect... (or like one of those crappy movie logos that have light coming from its edges...(that is only post or can be achieved on maya?)
That shoulda be pretty easy i told myself...
Well it isnt...
After fighting with it i achieved this...

i cant make it less grainy and it also looks pretty crappy...
any ideas to better that light fog coming from the box? (it has to look like something incredibly powerful just teleported inside it...)

also if i take another snapshot... Youll see the light actually goes brighter towards the end of the effect (wich is undesired and tried to avoid using quadratic decay but to no avail.... i want it the other way more light inside the box...))

sob:( sigh;(
noone can help me...
two problems i had...
two problems sank in the depths of thread oblivion without a enlightening response

i wish i could put this icon :bow: to someone´s reply while saying "im not worthy!, im not worthy!"

From the Maya rendering and Lighting Troubleshooting section of the docs:

Quote:

Maya Rendering Lights and Shadows
Troubleshooting Shadows

Jagged or flickering shadow edges
For shadow casting spot lights-Decrease the Cone Angle.

For shadow casting directional lights-Turn on Use Light Position, turn off Use Dmap Auto Focus, and set Dmap Width Focus so all objects that you want to cast shadows do indeed cast shadows for all frames of the animation.

To determine the Dmap Width Focus value, select Panels > Look Through Selected, and zoom the view in or out until all shadow casting objects are visible. Note the width of the view and use this value for Dmap Width Focus.

For all light types-You can do one of the following:

Turn off Use Light Position (for directional lights only), turn on Use Dmap Auto Focus for the light, and turn off Casts Shadows for any objects (especially large objects) in the scene that do not need to cast shadows (they can still receive shadows).
Increase Dmap Filter Size (to the lowest value that produces acceptable results) for the shadow casting light (this will make shadow edges softer).
Increase Dmap Resolution (to the lowest value that produces acceptable results) for the shadow casting light.

Grainy or flickering shadows in illuminated fog
Increase Fog Shadow Samples (to the lowest value that produces acceptable results) for the shadow casting light.

Dark spots or streaks on illuminated surfaces (outside of shadows)
Turn on Use Mid Dist Dmap for the shadow casting light that illuminates the surface.

or

Increase Dmap Bias by a small amount for the shadow casting light that illuminates the surface.

Shadow appears detached from shadow casting surface
Decrease Dmap Bias by a small amount for the shadow casting light.

Grainy or flickering shadow edges (raytraced shadows)
Decrease Light Radius (point lights or spot lights) or Light Angle (directional lights) for the shadow casting light. This will also make shadow edges sharper.

or

Increase Shadow Rays (to the lowest value that produces acceptable results) for the shadow casting light.

Staircase of dark triangles on surface (raytraced shadows)
Increase Curvature Tolerance for the surface.

or

Increase U Divisions Factor and V Divisions Factor for the surface (to the lowest values that produce acceptable results).

Good luck!

...and never fear the docs, they can be confusing, and seem to be of no help, but the info you seek is always in there somewhere:)

Tnx pal, Partial :bow: for you because
Scene description:
Reads, thinks "been there, done that"
in anger he checks off autofocus is off and focus is at 300, ups the dmap to 2048 with filter 20... dmap bias 0.2 and fog samples 80
hits render...
waits 15 min...
sees it...
Yells out loud "mecagonlaputa"
Its still grainy... hey but at least the box itself took a glowing effect..

Double checks f1 help... doesnt finds nothing useful...
yields again...

then sees volume sphere node, realizes, tries upping volume samples to 30, its hideously all white, downs fog intensity it works... (its still pretty crappy but it has stopped to be grainy)

So, whats the lesson to be extracted from this?
dont mess with tiny slits and lightfogs... the tinyer the slit the messyer to control it becomes... and the insanely higher you have to setup the quality... better to do it in postproduction...

lol what about a contest to see who can make the coolest effect with lightfog and tiny slits?

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Fear? only to taxes and death...
Rage? from the dark side it is... but is more useful than selfpity
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Lol, can we see those tests ..?

"mecagoenlaputa" .. lol.

hehe... you said tiny slits:) hehe...

Ok, ok, sry:)