Lens Effect, Halation around light

[MattG]

I also use 3ds max and it is very easy in that to create a "lens effect" as they call it where I can have my lights as I choose at least give off that glow, or star like effect as you sometimes see.

I am attaching a generic rendering with I found with an example. I am trying to do this without importing in photoshop or anything. Please help

Matt

[Dave Donley]

Hello Matt:

Lens flares are not available in RenderWorks, you'd have to add these using image editing.

Shafts of light can be done using Lit Fog backgrounds, though. Depending on the light's distance falloff the haze around the light could be localized (similar to the light on the right of your image). For example, if you put two point lights in the same location, one for the actual lighting of the model, and another with lit fog enabled and with sharp falloff and low brightness it could produce a glowing effect in that location.

[gmm18]

Thanks Dave. Your posts are always very useful.

It also comes to my mind a wish I posted once,

It would be great if we could create a Gradient with "None," or "No-Fill" being an option.

That way we could have a color on one end, and none on the other.

It would create a gradient that is solid on one end and transparent on the other.

Using the radius option one could then create a simplified 2D "lens effect,"

or many other useful and wonderful things.

Here is a visual of what I am talking about...

[Dave Donley]

I will forward you wish to the proper authorities.

For now you might try overlapping concentric circles with changing sizes and a small opacity % setting? Quartz or GDI+ would blend them over the underlying image, but you would get a kind of step effect if there weren't enough circles.

Edited December 16, 2008 by Dave Donley