UberVolume

UberVolume is an interior volume shader (in prman speak) for DAZStudio that allows you to produce a variety of Smoke/Fog/Mist/Cloud affects.

User Guide

Setup

UberVolume can be used in several different ways. In order to create a volumetric spotlight, follow these steps:

1. Create a Spotlight (1)
2. Double-click the 'Parent Cone to Light' or one of the others marked with 2 in the above image.

If you would like to apply one of the look presets, you can then:

1. Select the SpotLight 1 Volume (3)
2. Go to surfaces and select the SpotLight 1 Volume (4)
3. Double-click on the !Uber Volume Dust, Cloud, etc to apply (6 in the image)
4. Select whatever effect you want to produce, these can be edited in the surface for strength etc. See below.

Basic Controls

Bellow is a description of the various controls of UberVolume.

Color

The Color of the Volume

Density

The Density of the Volume; The higher the value the more difficult to see through the volume.

Density 0.01	Density 0.02	Density 0.05

Volume Start/End

Min/Max distance the light will penetrate the volume. Leaving these values small/large will ensure the entire volume is used.

Step Size

This is the main speed/quality control and represents how often the volume is sampled along the light ray. Small values will mean many samples and smooth transitions; Large values can lead to grainy images and fast renders.

Step Size 1.0	Step Size 8.0

Scatter

The Color that is scattered, tinting the background the complementary (opposite) color of the scatter color.

Scatter Blue	Scatter Orange

Smoke Controls

Adding smoke will add a 3D noise texture to the Volume.

Strength

This is a mix value between an even volume and the smoke pattern.

Strength 0	Strength 50	Strength 100

Detail

The amount of detail in the smoke. Low detail can look puffy while high detail can look more wispy.

Detail 1	Detail 10	Detail 20

Scale

The size of the noise pattern. Large scale can look more like clouds while scale values can produce a dusty look.

Scale 1	Scale 10	Scale 20

Contrast

The Contrast between the smoke/empty areas. A high value produces hard transitions.

Contrast 1	Contrast 5	Contrast 20

Tips and Tricks

• One of the limitations of an interior shader is that the camera cannot be inside the volume. Otherwise the atmospheric effect goes away.
• Give your volume color by using lights that support texture maps/gells like UberSpot and UberPoint.