Distance Fog/Haze in 3Delight?

Tensen01

I'm hoping anyone can tell me how I might go about creating Distance Fog/Haze for 3Delight rendering? I know there are ways in Iray but I can't render Iray.

I have seen it utilized in a couple environments I have downloaded, but I have no idea how they are implemented.

Any help would be appreciated.

Catherine3678ab

tensen01_ef693dd2b9 said:

I'm hoping anyone can tell me how I might go about creating Distance Fog/Haze for 3Delight rendering? I know there are ways in Iray but I can't render Iray.

I have seen it utilized in a couple environments I have downloaded, but I have no idea how they are implemented.

Any help would be appreciated.

There are a few ways to accomplish fog/rain/haze/etc.

One is to make some planes [Created either from D/S's create menu or via a modeller such as Hexagon, must be uvmapped], and scatter them about the fields. Then in D/S apply a texture image for the fog/rain/haze/whatever to the diffuse color channel [Surfaces panel] and on the opacity channel put the same image except as a black/white/shades of gray image. White where you want full opacity, black where you want transparency.

Another way is to make something of a plane again but to have it located in front of/parented to, a camera. Texturing methods are the same as above.

For a more comprehensive study on the topic there is this tutorial by Dreamlight.

https://www.daz3d.com/fog-master--video-tutorial

 

Tensen01

Catherine3678ab said:

tensen01_ef693dd2b9 said:

I'm hoping anyone can tell me how I might go about creating Distance Fog/Haze for 3Delight rendering? I know there are ways in Iray but I can't render Iray.

I have seen it utilized in a couple environments I have downloaded, but I have no idea how they are implemented.

Any help would be appreciated.

There are a few ways to accomplish fog/rain/haze/etc.

One is to make some planes [Created either from D/S's create menu or via a modeller such as Hexagon, must be uvmapped], and scatter them about the fields. Then in D/S apply a texture image for the fog/rain/haze/whatever to the diffuse color channel [Surfaces panel] and on the opacity channel put the same image except as a black/white/shades of gray image. White where you want full opacity, black where you want transparency.

Another way is to make something of a plane again but to have it located in front of/parented to, a camera. Texturing methods are the same as above.

For a more comprehensive study on the topic there is this tutorial by Dreamlight.

https://www.daz3d.com/fog-master--video-tutorial

 

I have done this before, but it's not really what I'm talking about. I'm refering the the Atmopheric Haze effect where the farther away soemthing is the more hazy/blue it is. Like mountains in the distance. As demostrated here:

NorthOf45

Which environments? It could be props or custom cameras, or a combination of both. That picture has haze and low-level clouds in the valleys. Not sure if that can be done with a single element. Have you seen Marshian's Above the Fog for Iray and 3Delight, Above the Clouds for 3Delight: Stratocumulus or Above the Clouds for 3Delight: Nimbostratus? Combined with simple fog cam, you should get something approaching that look.

Catherine3678ab

tensen01_ef693dd2b9 said:

Catherine3678ab said:

tensen01_ef693dd2b9 said:

I'm hoping anyone can tell me how I might go about creating Distance Fog/Haze for 3Delight rendering? I know there are ways in Iray but I can't render Iray.

I have seen it utilized in a couple environments I have downloaded, but I have no idea how they are implemented.

Any help would be appreciated.

There are a few ways to accomplish fog/rain/haze/etc.

One is to make some planes [Created either from D/S's create menu or via a modeller such as Hexagon, must be uvmapped], and scatter them about the fields. Then in D/S apply a texture image for the fog/rain/haze/whatever to the diffuse color channel [Surfaces panel] and on the opacity channel put the same image except as a black/white/shades of gray image. White where you want full opacity, black where you want transparency.

Another way is to make something of a plane again but to have it located in front of/parented to, a camera. Texturing methods are the same as above.

For a more comprehensive study on the topic there is this tutorial by Dreamlight.

https://www.daz3d.com/fog-master--video-tutorial

 

I have done this before, but it's not really what I'm talking about. I'm refering the the Atmopheric Haze effect where the farther away soemthing is the more hazy/blue it is. Like mountains in the distance. As demostrated here:

Yeah, and that's how it can be done ;-) Just images on planes. Being somewhat transparent, the models beyond them can still be seen. Or, depending upon the viewpoint, the plane might be more level with the peaks of the mountains poking through the cloud effects.

Sven Dullah

Maybe a simple fog camera will work for you? It won't accept shadows but for distance haze it should be sufficient. You could create it yourself in shadow mixer or try something like this.

Tensen01

NorthOf45 said:

Which environments? It could be props or custom cameras, or a combination of both. That picture has haze and low-level clouds in the valleys. Not sure if that can be done with a single element. Have you seen Marshian's Above the Fog for Iray and 3Delight, Above the Clouds for 3Delight: Stratocumulus or Above the Clouds for 3Delight: Nimbostratus? Combined with simple fog cam, you should get something approaching that look.

I hadn't seen those no. Okay people keep saying Fog cam, but I don't know how to make one so it's not simple for me. Also the particular evironment was Urban Future 4 :Street Level, which I see now says "Custom DAZ Studio Camera for Atmospheric Fog Effect" is there a way to make these? https://www.daz3d.com/catalog/product/view/id/13290 several of the pictures contain the haze that I'm looking to replicate.

NorthOf45

Actually, that "Custom DAZ Studio Camera for Atmospheric Fog Effect" is included with the product. It is part of the scene file, and you can adjust the fog effect in the Cameras tab with the camera selected. You need to render with the camera selected in the viewport View control. It will only show in renders, though, not in the preview, and not in Iray.

If you want to use that camera in another scene, you would have to save it out as a new camera preset.

There was a new user challenge last year about "Atmosphere", so there is probably a good deal of relevant info on how to do what you want.

Marshian

Hi tensen01_ef693dd2b9. I have three products in the store that fit this request in different ways:

https://www.daz3d.com/above-the-clouds-for-3delight-nimbostratus

https://www.daz3d.com/above-the-clouds-for-3delight-stratocumulus

https://www.daz3d.com/above-the-fog-for-iray-and-3delight

Hope you find something that works well. 

jjoyner

I came across this thread today while researching a problem that I’m having with an older product – Hard Target (https://www.daz3d.com/hard-target).  The product only renders in 3Delight and comes with a fog camera.  I have tried to find a way to get a fog to render using the fog camera but have been unsuccessful so far.  I can see no setting in the fog camera parameters to turn on or adjust fog nor are there any fog planes that come with the product.  Is anyone familiar with how this might be accomplished?  Thanks.

NorthOf45

According to the error log, the camera definition file is missing. The "Fog Camera.duf" file is trying to load one from "support/ShaderBuilder/Volume/RiSpec/Global/Atmosphere/RI_FogDef.dsa", which I cannot find anywhere.

I recall a simple fog camera from somewhere, but I can't find it right now...

NorthOf45

Ah, found the "RI_FogDef.dsa" camera definition file (AppData\Roaming\DAZ 3D\Studio4\scripts\support\ShaderBuilder\Volume\RiSpec\...). It is in an older General Release (4.12), but not in the Public Beta.

I haven't checked newer versions to see if it is still there. Not sure if it has been removed or overlooked.

Anyway, works great if you got it. I would show proof, but attachments are not working again...

jjoyner

NorthOf45 said:

Ah, found the "RI_FogDef.dsa" camera definition file (AppData\Roaming\DAZ 3D\Studio4\scripts\support\ShaderBuilder\Volume\RiSpec\...). It is in an older General Release (4.12), but not in the Public Beta.

I haven't checked newer versions to see if it is still there. Not sure if it has been removed or overlooked.

Anyway, works great if you got it. I would show proof, but attachments are not working again...

Thanks much for your research.  Odd thing is that I got no error message when loading the fog camera.  I'll look to see if I can find the missing dsa file or submit a Support ticket to get it.  I bought Hard Target in 2021.

NorthOf45

I don't think it is part of the Hard Target product, but Studio itself, or at least it used to be. Maybe someone else can confirm if it is in the current Public Release, or if and when it disappeared? (see above for path)

NorthOf45

NorthOf45 said:

I don't think it is part of the Hard Target product, but Studio itself, or at least it used to be. Maybe someone else can confirm if it is in the current Public Release, or if and when it disappeared? (see above for path)

 Actually, according to the SceneIdentification it looks like a derivative of AoA's Atmospheric Effects Cameras (no longer available). There have been a couple of versions of the product. Hard Target was probably created around the time of the first version (for DS3), so the syntax for the old camera doesn't line up with the newer version. The latest version used standard shader bricks, with various presets. I had probably installed the older version early on, and some stuff got left behind when I installed the newer version.

Seeing as the original camera/shader definition is not in my beta installation, the newer version had everything needed to function. I remember fussing with the two versions at some point, deciding that the new one was, in fact, better.

An alternative would be uberVolume, that is still included with Studio.

jjoyner

NorthOf45 said:

NorthOf45 said:

I don't think it is part of the Hard Target product, but Studio itself, or at least it used to be. Maybe someone else can confirm if it is in the current Public Release, or if and when it disappeared? (see above for path)

 Actually, according to the SceneIdentification it looks like a derivative of AoA's Atmospheric Effects Cameras (no longer available). There have been a couple of versions of the product. Hard Target was probably created around the time of the first version (for DS3), so the syntax for the old camera doesn't line up with the newer version. The latest version used standard shader bricks, with various presets. I had probably installed the older version early on, and some stuff got left behind when I installed the newer version.

Seeing as the original camera/shader definition is not in my beta installation, the newer version had everything needed to function. I remember fussing with the two versions at some point, deciding that the new one was, in fact, better.

An alternative would be uberVolume, that is still included with Studio.

Thanks for the additional  info.  I was thinking that I might resort to trying to craft my own fog effect from scratch or from products that I have.  I bought AoA's Atmospheric Effects Cameras for DAZ Studio in 2018 so if I take that route, I'll likely start there.