if anyone can help, i would be greatly appreciative :) at what point does water become water?!? a setting of 133 refraction doesnt always yield a "water"... why is that?!? im terrible w/ the technical end of bryce, i hope i am making sense... thanks.

Possibility: Check on the color, transparency and reflection settings. All three will have an effect on how 'watery' the end result is, beyond the refractive index. It's a balancing act. For example, a calm puddle under a blue sky will be effected more by the sky's reflection. A rippled water will have areas that reflect what's above it, as well as areas that show the water's own qualities.

hmmmm... im speaking w/ regards to the dte specifically... dont get me wrong, i know a good water when i see one :D i mean at what point does the dte "decide" to call the material water when the refraction is set to 133...

what "conditions" tells bryce to -label- the refraction as water... (glass at 153 and air at 100)

thanks :)

Message edited on: 12/09/2004 16:17

AAAAhhh. I see where the question is coming from, now. Those numbers are based on real-world numbers called the Index of Refraction, which is pretty unique for almost all subtances. A complete discussion of the mathematics can be found at: http://www.rockhounds.com/rockshop/gem_designs/refractive_index/ And a listing of the most common RI's for various transparent materials at, (as well as a Bryce rendered set of pics showing the effects of those settings): http://www.3dlapidary.com/HTML/Materials3.htm (You happened to hit one of my hobby points with this: I run 3D Lapidary.com -- in my sarcasm alert abundant free time.)

Forgot to mention:
Bryce (for reasons unknown) multiplies the RI by 100. Thus, water at RI=1.33, is shown in Bryce as 133.

Message edited on: 12/10/2004 08:51

wow wow wow. thank you so much, words cannot express :D this is awesome info for me, as i am left and right brained... makes it easier for me to "do stuff" :)