| Volume
materials use most of the same channels as surface materials. These channels all
work the same as they do for surface materials. The difference is that the channels
control the properties of the object's volume not its surface. In addition to the channels already discussed, volume materials
have several specialized channels. |
| Volume Color
controls the color applied to the interior of an object. Everything inside the
object will appear tinted with this color as all the light is filtered through the volume
color. The volume color interacts with the transparent color. If the surface
is transparent, light is tinted by the transparent color and the volume color.
The image to the right was made using the same material.
Only the indicated channel was changed. |
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| Base Density controls how dense the object is. In areas
where the object is very dense, no light passes through the object. Where the object
is less dense, more light passes through its volume. Base Density works like
transparency. Areas that are less dense appear to be more transparent. High
values create very solid objects, low values create less dense objects. The image to the right was made using the same material.
Only the indicated channel was changed. |
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| When a texture is
used to set Base Density, the alpha channel is used to determine which areas of the object
are solid and which are empty. The texture above was driven by a texture. |
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| Edge Softness
controls the softness of the edges of the silhouette of objects with a volume
material. Use this effect to blur the overall shape of the object to which it is
applied.
The image to the right was made using the same material.
Only the indicated channel was changed. |
 |
| Fuzzy Factor
controls the dullness of sharpness of a material. Values greater than 100 adjust the
dullness of a material. Values less than 100 adjust the sharpness of the material. The image to the right was made using the same material.
Only the indicated channel was changed.
As the object becomes more dull, it also becomes more
dense so the base density may need to be increased. |
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| Quality/Speed
controls the render quality of the texture. This channel represents the inverse
relationship between quality and rendering speed. As you increase the render quality of
the material, you decrease the speed at which it is rendered. As you increase the
speed at which a material is rendered, the quality is decreased. The image to the right was made using the same material.
Only the indicated channel was changed. |
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