Fog

[flys]

Hello guys, can someone help-me to understand how to create an environment Fog like that in the underwaterCaustic scene in the ocean examples of Maya 4.5 ?
Thanks to all

[Alan]

I havent seen the example your talking about but I found this tutorial

http://www.the-gnomon-workshop.com/tutorials/lightfog/lightfog.html

Mite be what you're looking for
Alan

[flys]

wonderful link !!!
thank you very much

[Alan]

your welcome (I've found fog to be a real pain in the arse to do so I'd be interested in your results)

ALan

[flys]

i attach you a still image of one simple animation .... what you think of ?

[NitroLiq]

I think it looks great so far but I would adjust your specular shading on the dolphins foreheads. It wouldn't be that defined while underwater. If the dolphins surfaced, it would, though.

A couple of other things to think about: the ocean itself is a deep deep blue which for the most part tends to mean deeper water (the deeper you go, the less light there is...reds get filtered out first, etc.) so I'm wondering about a couple of things:

1) Would the reflections off the bottom and the dolphins be so strong at that depth? I think you'd only get that if they were swimming closer to the surface. Look for some pics around the net and see.

2). There is no real sunlight definition in the scene causing the reflections.

3). With just a sandy bottom and no terrain, it seems like it should be shallower.

These are just some things that came to mind...I think the scene looks great, though and I think anyone who isn't nit-picking is going to love it. Good job!

[I-Iybrid]

I find it really good too. But one thing that catches my eye, is that the dolphins are really blue. Shouldnt they be more greyish? Because from the looks of the scene, they arent very deep into the water (from the intesnity of the reflections).

[Alan]

wow nice scene, you should post this in the WIP forum so that you get more feedback on it.

My points would be:

what the guys said above about reflections etc.

The dolphins are too smooth they need some definition their skin (a small bump map should do it)

One of the dolphins has a white tip on it's fin. Is that deliberate or just the lighting causing it? it just stands out a little that's all.

Caustics look nice, they are maybe a little too uniform maybe try and break them up abit more.

The sandy bottom needs more definition ( a simple displacement shader should do that really easily)

Great work and I hope to see more of it

:)
ALan

[flys]

Thank you very very much, for your valuable advices.
In this render, I've tried most of all, to increse the look of the sea;
following your aid, I've textured the terrain with a sandy map and i've added another directional light to difine a real sun light, i hope it works well.
I try to reproduce a low sea, enough calm with a limpid water, for this reason it is not so blue deeper.
Anyway, to this point i've work without reference, but when i finish my high resolution dolphin model(... damn it's real blue ...), I search for images to adjust the specular shading on the dolphins.

Other advice ? (.... I hope)

Thank you so much.

[Alan]

this is looking really really nice! have you checked out my thread about my WIP? that would work really really well with these dolphins too! Really cool and (relatively easy) procedural animation.

Your darker lines on the bottom of the sea look too uniform though, the lines are too straight find some reference photos for sure just to add that bit of realism that the pic is missing.

:D

Great stuff I'm sure with a bit more work this could go to the gallery!