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 Introduction |
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In this tutorial,
I'll demonstrate a quick & easy way to set up a complete
underwater scene.
This tutorial
requires:
Pixels3D
| studio | v3.x
Understanding
of techniques explained in previous 56 tutorials
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| Downloads |
| Create
an Ocean Floor |
| For the ocean floor,
create a large mesh, about 30x30. Reshape>Displace the
Mesh by 0, 8, 0, or until it looks something like this. |
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| Create
an Environment Sphere |
| Create a Sphere,
and scale it up until it encompasses the entire scene. This will
serve as more of a backdrop for the scene than an environment. |
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| Model
Some Coral Objects |
| Deform & Displace
some cylinders to create shapes similar to those shown. |
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| Set
up the Lighting |
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This is an outdoor underwater scene, so set the Light Type
to Sun. Raise it high above the scene.
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| Set
up the Fog |
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We'll use fog to simulate the volume of the particulates in
the water.
In Render Setup, change the Background & Fog color
to a medium grayish-blue color.
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| And, with the Camera
selected, change the Fog Radii as shown. Once the fog is set up,
objects will be faded to the fog color based on their distance
from the camera. |
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| Test
Render |
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With no shaders yet applied, the scene is completely unconvincing.
Notice the fog effect.
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| Shading |
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Coral is very porous, and has a tremendous amount of detail.
To model such detail would be futile. Instead, we'll use some
of Pixels 3D Studio's built-in fractal noise functions.
The high bump value for the fBm is the key here. It provides
enough variation to give the illusion of a complex surface.
From this shader, I created two more, with varying colors.
Those will be applied to the ocean floor, and other objects
added to the scene.
All of the shaders are included in the tutorial support files.
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Keep Going |
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Chaos is the key here. Create additional shapes - debris, sticks,
shells, fish, etc. to complement the scene.
See the caustics tutorials for other underwater lighting ideas.
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