I have been trying to create a smoke effect using scattering media, but
I cannot seem to get any results.  Emitting and absorbing media work
fine, but scattering media appears completely invisible.  I got so
frustrated that I want and downloaded Glenn McCarter's and N.B.'s source
code for thier "First Strike at Pearl" image (absolutely fabulous, by
the way).  I borrowed the smoke texture from their include file, but
again, nothing.
Here is the interior statement.  Yes, all of my objects are hollow (as I
say, emitting and absorbing media work fine).

#declare SmokeInt =
 interior {
  media {
//   scattering { 1, <.02,.02,.02,> extinction 1.0 } // stinking choking
black
   scattering { 3, <.01,.01,.01,> extinction 1.0 } // charcoal grey with
fuzzy fur
//   scattering { 1, <.002,.002,.002,> extinction 1.0 } // soft fluffy
grey
     density { spherical
    color_map{
     [0.0 color rgb <0.0,0.0,0.0> ] // outside is transparent
     [0.4 color rgb <0,0,0> ] // this prevents it from reaching the
container
     [1.0 color rgb <1,1,1> ] // inside is opaque
    }
   turbulence .18
   omega 0.835 // default 0.5, higher = rougher
     }
  }
 }

When I render a sphere with this texture, I get absolutely nothing.  I
discovered that if I remove the density section, the media shows up, but
of course it is constant.  If I add the density back in again, the
sphere once again disappears.  At this point, I'm just testing this
texture, so the scene only has a plane and the sphere.  What's going on?

Post a reply to this message