New Fog Camera by Marshian
manekiNeko
Posts: 1,438
there is a new product called "Fog Camera" by Marshian in the store today.
i used a few free or bought solutions for fog involving fog plane(s), and i wanted to know what you think about that one - the only opinion i have so far is that i appreciate it's for both 3dl and iray (i use 3dl most but dabble occasionally into iray). i don't quite get what is meant by "prop-based camera built from layered planes" though, i was a bit confused because usually when "fog" and "camera" are used in the same sentence it involves volumetrics...
side note: i never got the hang of volumetrics, but since this here works with planes it's not an issue, right?
one of the recurrent problems with many fog planes solutions was that often, the planes would cut through scene elements, and you would see parts of the object as wished behind the plane... and the rest emerging from it. with several planes it would not be too visible for the objects in the back, but still for those in the front. and rotating the planes on Y (every single one) until all objects didn't cut was bothersome.
i think (not sure) that when cameras were provided with a foggy scene/product the PA would have ensured everything in the scene including the cameras' POV would be oriented to guarantee neat cut-less renders, but what if one wants another POV...
is this particular issue avoided in this product? generally, what are pros & cons?
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I'm very interested in this product, too, and it's sitting in my cart right now. I believe it works by parenting the fog prop to the camera, so wherever you move the camera, the prop is still facing the camera.
I have several products from Marshian and he's yet to disappoint me. However if you buy the product and don't like it, Daz does have a 30 day return policy. Buy it, and if it turns out to not meet your needs, return it for a full refund.
it's what i understood too. which is great so the fog density is guaranteed, would be plus for me to also get it.
doesn't quite solve the issue with cutting objects though.. which might have to be solved differently independently of the fog product used...
btw, "just buy and get refunded if" is not an option for me. i have extremely limited funds and a store credit is no big use IRL - since i don't have a credit account (debit card) i'm not even sure i could be refunded on the card, taken daz actually also does it this way...
I am also considering this product but I'm wondering what the difference is between this and @Marshian "Above the Fog" product.
Trish
maybe above the fog uses horizontal planes, and the fog camera vertical ones?
EDIT: i looked at it again, seems above the fog has volumetrics, and fog camera doesn't? i'm so clueless.
Hi Trish/ Stormlyght. I'm happy to explain the main differences between Above the Fog and Fog Camera. Above the fog is for 3DL and Iray, the Iray version is a smooth dense fog, its not patchy, and it uses SSS which can take a little time to render. This new Fog Camera has lacunarity (the puffy patchiness) and uses opacity maps with refraction to create the effect so it renders much quicker. The the fog follows the camera and is easier the adjust to the depth of your scene.
Hi manekiNeko. Thanks for bringing the 3DL usage to my attention, this is not correct as it is only for Iray. I just put in a request to have that copy removed. This camera is prop-based instead of an effect applied to the camera itself (like amny of the amtospheric cams in 3DL). This means that you can see all the planes (the prop that is parented to it) in working view the help scale them to fit your scene. The issue with volumetrics is longer render times and as far I know there is no way to have patchy/puffy volumetrics in Iray...I have put some long hours into trying to figure it out. This fog camera is the answer.
The combination of surface settings keeps object from being cut. The opacity (which usually causes this) is waaaay down relying on refraction to create depth. The refraction is very soft so you dont see planes, think of it as a very thin layer of smoke. I'm familiar with your issues regarding other fog products, I parented the prop to the camera to make scene building and great effects easy. However there are several promos, here is one, where I have unparented the fog prop from the camera so you can see how it renders from different angles. The pros are that scene set up and render time is fast, the only con I think of is that light direction is a little more particular to get the "Jesus Rays". For that effect, the light needs to be pointed away from the camera, not directly from the side or from behind the fog prop. You can see some in the promos to get the idea. I started a commercial thread for the Fog Camera here.
Above the fog uses a sculpted 3D prop, which you can see here. Yes this fog camera is all planes, the are all locked together so scaling, applying materials, and using the morph is very easy.
I have bookmarked this thread but if you care to continue the conversation in the commecrial thread we may provide answers other people are looking for.
Hi! Thank you for your response. It's going in my cart. I use your other "fog" product frequently so I wanted to understand the differences.
Trish
If you request a refund to the card you used, when returning, CS folks will be happy to refund it there; they just do credit by default.
thank you so much @Marshian for all the explanations! ^^
i saw the corrected store page, seems right now above the fog answers my needs better since i use 3dl a lot, still, i keep the fog camera wishlisted, i'll follow the commercial thread then!
thx @nicstt : i didn't even know it was possible to pay anything on an account-less debit card (when you're not the owner).. nobody has ever needed to give me $ back.
...the fact it works in both 3DL and Iray and gives the same results is a sell for me.
Uhumm, it's not working for 3DL out of the box.
...was late last night when I saw it and thought it mentioned 3DL but now looking at the product page I see it does mention only Iray. Ah well
In the cart but haven't clicked checkout yet. Looks like goes on the wishlist until whenever GPU prices decide to come back down to earth.
I am curious about this. Does it add to the render time though?
I'm trying to figure out how to use this as a depth map utility. I'm using the included render settings and have applied the "utility for depth mask" material on the fog prop, but it still just looks like my scene is sitting in heavy fog. The foreground is not black. I have no other lights in the scene. If I can still see color on objects in the foreground, then it won't work as a depth map. (The white of someone's sclera and the dark of their irises would be interpreted as different depths when used in Photoshop as a depth map! That isn't going to fly!) What am I missing??
My initial tests say yes. In fact, the same scene using the AtmoCam, (also from Marshian,) shows the AtmoCam as faster. However, I've only tested it on an existing scene, so far, and it is a very large set, (Kingdom of Marrakesh.) But I've moved the Fog prop to where it intersects with the fountain in the center of the scene and you can't tell where the fog begins. The transition is perfect. I think that's an important feature.
I'm not sure I'll test this extensively at this time, as I've been working on a scene for the past few days, and I really need to get back to that.