In rendering of scenes and lighting in general, one of the most complex to achieve the so-called Caustics. This is the dispersion of the ray of light for a semi-transparent surface that allows the passage of photons on his material. One of the easiest ways to give the effect in the real world is to get a cup, with a bit of liquid and place next to a light source. The 3d tools generally do not produce such an effect with the type scaline renderer, with only specialized in raytracing software, such as the V-Ray, Mental Ray or YafRay. For example, in Blender 3d is possible to simulate the effect, using the YafRay.

But with the Mental Ray?  If you are a member of 3DS Max, but still does not know to use the tool to generate Caustics with the 3ds Max, a very simple tutorial, shows the steps necessary to establish the effect of so quickly. Despite being at an accelerating pace, after seeing the video, you can reproduce the effect without major problems.

(continue reading…)