Autodesk 3ds Max 9 3D animation software uses the latest technology advancements, such as 64-bit workstations, enabling you work with more complex scenes and create stunning 3D.

3ds Max 9 - Parti_Volume Shader by Joshua

Recently I've got question from my friend that he would like to using Mental Ray in 3ds Max, but the question is it seems that no one in the world know how to use those MR shaders. That made me to start studying on the MR shaders again. I would like to share with you guys in the coming newsletter about different MR shaders and also hope if you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to send me an email at joshua_so@synnex.com.hk. Working together is better than alone anyway.

Here it comes the first one: Parti_Volume

One of the effects that the Parti_Volume shader can do is the volumetric light effect. To do something like the following image, you need to set up something as described in the following.

Volumetric light effect using MR Parti_Volume shader.



Set up a scene with a Spot light, an object (e.g. a teapot) under the spot light, and a background plane with normal facing to the camera. The background plane (or any other objects behind/surrounding the scene is one of the key that you can see the volumetric effect). Select the light, adjust the light parameters such as Multiplier, Decay, Attenuation,...., but the most important one is to add a Light Spot (base) shader to the Light Shader button under the mental ray Light Shader rollout.



Under the Renderer tab of the Render Scene dialog, add a Parti Volume (physics) shader to the Volume button under the Camera Shaders region. Open the Material Editor, drag and drop the shader to one of the sample slots.



Adjust the Scatter color to change the volumetric light color. For details of other parameters, you can find detail information in 3ds Max help. Or I suggest you can try Non Uniform (value between 0 and 1), Minimum/Maximum Step Length (the smaller the prettier but slower).



Render the scene and here it comes -- the Volumetric Light effect.