Underwater scene setup

[Syrena]

Hello!

I few months ago, I posted a question about creating an underwater scene using Mantra to render (don't have redshift). I've been playing around and I still can't get a production quality acceptable underwater look. The problem is mainly the falloff of the volume. It

always remains constant and I can't adjust the falloff density of the volume on one axis (z falloff) so it's clear in the front and dense towards the back like an underwater scene usually looks. Anyone can help with a sample scene on how to achieve a good underwater look with Snell's Window topside? There's a tutorial for blender I've been trying to adapt to Houdini... but failed. Doesn't really have the look at all... 

Create an Underwater Scene with Volumetric Lighting in Blender! - YouTube

 

Thanks!

 

 

[davpe]

not sure what do you mean by falloff. there is no falloff in reality - I'd say the underwater environment has more less constant density. you can see objects close to the camera more clearly bcs there is less volume in between the camera and the object. objects located further away appear hazy because you look through a larger amount of water, thus the haze effect is more apparent. by that I think I'm stating the obvious thou, so maybe I don't understand your question.

for underwater scenes I typically just create a box large enough to contain the entire scene, make it volumetric, give it a basic volume shader, dial shader parameters so it looks how i want, and that's pretty much it (regarding volume). if it looks just white, or black, then make the volume density much smaller (either on the object, using volume_VOP, or VEX, or in the shader). you can also try reducing the shadow density parameter to get desired haziness/brightness. lighting naturally plays an essential role too. also, scene scale affects what numbers you have to dial in to make it work. but the falloff I think you talk about is a natural result of seeing objects close to, or far away from the camera.