Notch Notch Manual 0.9.23
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Volumetric Tracer

Volumetric Tracer

Renders a procedural as a volume through direct tracing.

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Method #

Renders a procedural as a volume. Unlike the Volumetric Generator node, this volume is not restricted to a bounded region of space. This allows a free camera flight through the volume without needing to animate or switch bounding boxes. This node is highly performance-intensive and processing time depends on resolution.

Use of this node above 1920x1080 resolution is not recommended.

This node is limited for use only with single perspective camera nodes, like the Camera and Region Camera.

Parameters

These properties control the 3D transforms of the node. Transforms will generally be inherited by child nodes, although they can be ignored through the Inherit Transform Channels attributes.

ParameterDetails
Position XMove along the local x-axis.
Position YMove along the local y-axis.
Position ZMove along the local z-axis.
Rotation HeadingRotate around the local y-axis.
Rotation PitchRotate around the local x-axis.
Rotation BankRotate around the local z-axis.
Scale XScale along the local x-axis.
Scale YScale along the local y-axis.
Scale ZScale along the local z-axis.

Toggle which transform channels should be inherited from the parent node. By default, all transforms will be inherited.

ParameterDetails
Position XToggle inheritance of the X Position from the parent.
Position YToggle inheritance of the Y Position from the parent.
Position ZToggle inheritance of the Z Position from the parent.
Rotation HeadingToggle inheritance of the Rotation Heading from the parent.
Rotation PitchToggle inheritance of the Rotation Pitch from the parent.
Rotation BankToggle inheritance of the Rotation Bank from the parent.
Scale XToggle inheritance of the X Scale from the parent.
Scale YToggle inheritance of the Y Scale from the parent.
Scale ZToggle inheritance of the Z Scale from the parent.
World Position OnlyInherit the world position from the parent only, rotation and scale will be ignored. Overrides above properties.
Inherit TimeToggle inheritance of time from the parent.

These properties control the core behaviours of the node.

ParameterDetails
VisibleControl whether the node is visible or not to the scene.
AlphaAlpha transparency amount.
ColourColour of the volumetric cloud.
Depth Alpha ScaleThe alpha density of the cloud.
Max DepthThe maximum depth at which raymarching should terminate.
Num SlicesIncrease the number of slices to increase the precision of the tracer at the cost of memory and computation.
Error ToleranceIncrease this tolerence level to fix holes in the cloud shape, which can happen if the procedural field becomes too distorted.
Coarse Alpha ThresholdA threshold for the low-resolution first pass raymarch. a higher threshold may increase performance but introduce artefacts.
Fine Alpha ThresholdA threshold for the high-resolution first pass raymarch. a higher threshold may increase performance but introduce artefacts.
Shadow AreaSets the size of the shadowmap casting area
Shadow Max DistanceThe maximum distance that shadows will be cast to.
Direct Illumination IntensityThe intensity of the light applied directly to the cloud (before shadowing).
Shadow AbsorbThe hardness or density of the cloud with respect to shadow-casting. increasing this value makes for more contrasted shadows, decreasing it makes for softer shadows.
Shadow ScatterThe scattering effect of the direct illumination.
Shadow Tint ColourShadows will be tinted by this colour.
Shadow Map SizeThe resolution of the shadowmap used for shadow casting.
Ambient AbsorbThe hardness or density of the cloud with respect to ambient light.
Ambient InstensityThe amount of ambient light added to the cloud.
Static ShadowsWhile this property is enabled, shadows will not be generated. the last-generated shadowmaps will be cached and re-used.
Apply Shadows To Solid ObjectsDetermines whether volumetric shadows should be cast onto solid objects.
Apply Shadows From Solid ObjectsDetermines whether solid objects should cast shadows onto the volumetrics.

Inputs

NameDescriptionTypical Input
Procedural RootUse a Procedural Root as an input, so the renderer is treated seperately from the roots transforms. In this case, the renderer itself would be connected to the scene Root node.Procedural Root
LightLight nodes used for lighting and shadowing of the volumetrics.Light
MaskA 2D mask image that can be used to define areas of the screen which are raytraced.Video Source
Bounding BoxA bounding box that may be used to contain the raytraced area in 3D space.Bounding Box
Transform ModifiersApply the transforms of another node to this node.Null
Target NodeModifiy the rotations of the node to always direct the z axis towards the input.Null
Local Transform OverrideApply the transforms of another node to this node, relative to its parent.Null