Poser Tutorial Fog Tool Deluxe III

Admin · 1 Poser Tutorial Fog Tool Deluxe III Fri Sep 24, 2010 10:28 am

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Poser 4 Atmosphere Effects

Yes, I said Poser 4!

Many owners of the Nerd3D Fog and Atmosphere Tool have requested a more detailed set of instructions.
Here it is!

This tutorial is in three steps. We will create a ground fog effect then add a second fog tool to create a volumetric light shaft. Then we dive into animation with the Fog Tool Deluxe.

You'll need the Nerd's Fog and Atmosphere Tool
3

Updated 5 April, 2006: New Fog Tool Deluxe III, Better Explanation of Controls.

Requirements ...
Poser 4 (Poser 5 or newer recommended) Nerd3D Fog Tool Deluxe or the original Fog and Atmosphere Tool Nerd Fog Mat Pose Files (Required only for Original Fog Tool) Patience ;-)
Overview ...
The Nerd 3D Fog Tool uses 40 morphable, movable planes to simulate volumetric atmospheric effects in Poser. There is a central "Fog Control" element that uses EMC controls to effect all the fog planes from a central point. The Poser 4 version also has an automatic EMC shielding figure to prevent cross talk. Most of the work you will do with posing the Fog Tool will be done using the Fog Control. There will be some cases in this more advanced tutorial where you will get move individual elements. The fog tool comes with Poser 4 style MAT-Poses to apply the included transparency maps with a single click. There is much more power in the tool than can be expressed through a simple MAT-Pose. The fog tool has 2 texture regions. The odd numbed layers are "FogA" and the even numbered ones are "FogB" this allows you to mix materials for greater control over the atmosphere effect. The Poser 5 version uses MT5 materials which give more control. but the possibilities of adding colors, displacement and refraction to the fog tool must be explored using the power of Poser's material room. That is beyond the scope of this tutorial. The Fog Tool Deluxe also includes a special Magnet and Wave Deformer that are modified to effect the entire Fog Bank. There is also a separate fog plane prop that you can use to add extra density to your effect right where you want it. This tutorial will get you started with a fairly simple ground fog effect. We will cover minor adjustments to the fog bank, setting lights and some render options.
Learning the controls ...
All the controls for the Fog Tool Deluxe III are located in the Control Element. In Poser it looks like a big Triangle sticking out the top of the fog bank. In DAZ\|Studio you'll need to select it from the list of figure parts. There are a lot of controls. What they do may not be immediately obvious. Here's a brief description of all the controls and what they do. Fog Pitch: Rotates each plane along its X axis. Positive numbers rotate planes toward you. Whole degrees -90 to +90 Range Fog Yaw: Rotates each plane along the Y axis. Positive numbers rotate left side toward you. Whole degrees -90 to +90 Range Plume Mode: Changes the shape of the entire fog tool to a plume. Useful for steam jets or smoke plumes. Set to 1 Fog Depth: Increases the height of each plane. Each whole number doubles the depth. Don't go lower than -1 there in no maximum. Fog Width: Increases the width of each plane. Each whole number doubles the width. Don't go lower than -1 there in no maximum. Fog Length: Scales the fog bank along the Z Axis (Away and towards) increases the distance between the fog planes. Each whole number doubles the length. Don't go lower than -1 there in no maximum. Interleave X, Y, Z Moves half the planes one way and half the other. Useful for decreasing density or breaking up patterns in the fog. Whole numbers move the planes about 1/10 a PNU (Poser Unit) No real limits, Adjust to suit the requirements A, B Planes Trans X, Y: These controls move half the planes in the indicated direction. Whole numbers move the planes about 1/10 a PNU (Poser Unit). No real limits, Adjust to suit the requirements Randomize X, Y: Randomly move and scale each plane in the indicated direction. Positive numbers generally work better. Suggested Range 0 to 1.00 Negative numbers greater than 1 will cause some planes to collapse. Y, Z Wave: Create a uniform wave in all planes along the indicated axis. Y is up and down. Z is to and fro. Range -1 to +1 Y, Z Noise: Create a pseudo random wave pattern in the fog. Some planes wave more some planes wave opposite. Y is up and down. Z is to and fro. Too much Z noise will cause planes to intersect. Sugested Range -1 to +1. You can use the Scale, Rotate and Translate dials in the Control Element to position the fog in your scene. If you save a pose these setting WILL be saved, unlike setting in the "Body" of The Fog, or any other figure. Some combinations of settings can cause the planes to intersect or pass through each other. This may produce undesired artifacts in the fog. (or really cool random patterns?) Poser 5 and higher should use the materials provided by the Material Room. They contain trick with the translucence node that allow back lighting effects to work with the Fog Tool. This node trick is not available in the MAT-Pose version of the Materials. In Poser 4 and DAZ\|Studio it's important to keep the fog planes more or less facing the camera. This can be done by rotating the Fog Control or using the Pitch and Yaw or both. It is less important with Poser 5 and higher. Just try not to get the planes edge on to the camera. That will cause gaps in the fog effect. (Unless that's the effect you're trying for then, you would want to see the ends of the planes.) In Poser the Fog Tool loads with it's display style set to Wire Frame. Poser 6 allows the fog to be displayed in real time. Set the "Figure Display Style" for the Fog Tool to "Textured Shaded" DAZ\|Studio always displays the figure this way. Because the fog is controlled by the Control Element, it is possible to save complete fog setup with a Pose. It will save all the dial settings and the position of the fog in the scene. Getting the perfect effect will always take a few tries. The Fog Tool is at least as complex and random as working with real fog in photography. It's about half luck and half skill. Keep trying you'll get it! As always if you get really stuck you can post a message in the forum or send me an Instant Message.
Posing the scene ...
Start a blank scene in Poser Load your figure(s) and pose them. Load a Fog Tool from the library. Choose the Fog Control body part. Set the camera to "Aux". Original Fog Tool owners will probably want to switch to "Cartoon View" so they can see the fog bank. Tip: The Fog Tool Deluxe has a "Handle" on the Fog Control element. This gives you easy access the the controls. The handle will render invisible. For the original Fog Tool you will need to select the control element from the drop down "Body Part" list.	[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Pick the Control Element
Fog Setup ...
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Fog Properties	We need to lay the fog planes nearly flat on the floor and choose a transparency map. Set the fog Pitch to -80. Set the depth to 10. Press ctrl + D to drop the fog to the floor. Fog Deluxe owners can add a bit of style Set Randomize X to 0.500 Set Randomize Y to 0.500 Set Y-Wave to 0.200 </LI> These settings are only a guide. Experiment with all the dials to see the effect they have on your scene. Tip: The more pitch angle you have the closer the planes will be together. This reduces the chances you will see banding. You can also decrease the Fog Length dial to make the fog more dense and bring the planes together. If the area covered by the fog is too small you can use 2 or more fog tools in your scene. Setup one the way you like then copy the settings to the others.
Material Setup ...
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Use the drop down box to select the material zones. The eye dropper is difficult to use on the fog tool.	Tip: It's important to use the correct materials with the fog. In Poser 4 and DAZ\|Studio use the MAT-Pose files from the Pose library. Poser 5 and higher should use the Material Room and the Materials from the Material Library. Switch to the Material Room and select the "FogA" Double Click the Smooth D3 Material or the material you selected Select the "FogB" Material Zone Double Click the Smooth D3 Material again. Don't change the Invisible or Preview Material. Poser 4 and DAZ\|Studio users should use the Mat-Pose files from the Pose library instead. The Materials provided with the Fog Deluxe III include special node tricks for Poser 5 and higher. These allow the fog to create backlighting effect not possible before. It's OK to mix materials. You can get some really cool effects by mixing the materials. Smooth and Creepy work together great. If you already own the Fog Deluxe II these materials are available as a free upgrade. Visit the Freebies Area to get your free Fog Deluxe III upgrade!
Light Setup ...
The scene needs a key light and a fill. The key light will be a spotlight Switch back to the posing room Select Light 3 and delete it (Or turn it off). Select Light 2 and open it's properties ( ctrl + I ). Set as a "Spot Light". Set it's color to pure white. Close the property box. From the figure menu select "Point At .." and choose your figure's chest. Set the light's Start Angle to 18. Set the End Angle to 20. Position the light with the translate dials. This is the key light. <BLOCKQUOTE> Y Tran = 2.0000 PNU X Tran = -1.0000 PNU Z Tran = 1.5000 PNU "PNU" is Poser Native Unit. That's 100 inches, about 8-1/2 feet or a little less than 3 meters. The light position a just a reference. It does not need to be exact. Focus your attention on composition not umbers.</BLOCKQUOTE> Select light 1 and position it so it's angle is near the spot light. Set its color to 50% gray. This will be the fill light.	[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Spot Light Setup
Tip: The fog tool works best with spot lights, but low intensity infinite lights can be used for fill. Use soft shadows. You will be less likely to see banding in the fog.
Draft Renders ...
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] These settings will give you quick test renders in FireFly. Poser 4 users should test render with Anti-Alias off.
Render Settings ...
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] These are production Render Settings Tip: The bucket size setting is subject to the complexity of the scene and the power of your computer. If you have troubles with renders failing try using smaller buckets sizes. Poser 6 settings are the same, just the screen looks different. It also handles the bucket size setting automatically so you don't need to change the setting.
Switch to the Main Camera and position it. Set the "Render Over" to black (optional). Render at low resolution at first to see if your on the right track. Save this scene for the Volumetric Light Tutorial. Next ...Volumetric Light!
FAQ ...
My Fog is all washed out or solid white.
Use a thinner transparency map. Creepy B D1 is the thinnest one included with the Fog Tool Deluxe. Too many or too bright infinite lights. Remove some infinite lights or dim them.
My Fog doesn't show at all.
No transparency map is applied. If no trans map is applied to the fog it will be invisible. Most of the fog is below the floor. If just the top edge of the fog is above your "floor" it may seem to be invisible. There may be no light shining on the front of the fog tool. The fog may look like a black blob or be totally invisible. Position the lights so they are on the same side of the fog as the camera.
Why can I see gaps and bands in the fog effect?
The fog tool uses a series of closely spaced planes to create the atmosphere effect. If you can see gaps of bands it's because the planes are too far apart for the effect you are trying for. Try Increasing the "Fog Pitch" value. This dial can be set positive or negative depending on your scene requirements. Set the fog length lower. This pulls the fog planes closer together. Rotate the whole fog bank so it aligns better to the camera. You want the flat front part of the planes facing the camera in most cases. Increase the X or Y Randomize dials (Deluxe only)
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Published on: 2004-12-27 (7636 reads)

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1 Poser Tutorial Fog Tool Deluxe III Fri Sep 24, 2010 10:28 am

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