So, I've been trying to create an animation of a ghost coming out of the ground.  I am using the ol' Edge_Blend connected to a Subtract node and hiding from raytracing trick to create a faded halo around the edges of the figure while having the inside invisible/translucent.

However, the "ghost" fails to illuminate the surrounding environment sufficiently no matter what I do to the gather node.  Is it because of the raytracing tricks?

I'd like to have the translucent ghost brightly illuminate the surrounding environment.  Are there any tips and tricks that anyone has?

Thanks a bunch!

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/rrwiki/index.php/Poser_Shader_Threads

Try the Material Room Wiki and see if there is anything there that might help.

There is a section of "glow without lights"  and there are some ghost discussions/tutorials under "Misc" and "RDNA"

If you're using Poser 8 or Poser Pro 2010 you can up the ambience in your shaders and use IDL to render so the 'ghost' will illuminate close objects or alternately position a point light in your ghost figure and use inverse sqare falloff on that light to do the same thing even without IDL.  

You may also want to try other ghost shaders.  Go grab Ajax's P5 Shader pack, he's got some great 'ghost' and 'spectre' materials you might find useful.

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/index.php?user_id=44709

Attached Link: gather node demo - animated pixel cord glowing onto grass

If you have P5-P7, I would try inserting/parenting point lights.  One inside the head, one in the torso, one in the abdomen, one between the knees.  Make sure that the ghost is set to *not* cast shadows, and his material should be highly ambient and fairly transparent.

You can use the gather node on the ground material, but you'll need to balance off the number of samples (accuracy/detail) versus render time and memory usage.  The gather node is a bit crude.
Everything which needs to receive light from the ghost would need a gather node, so if you have the ground plus 15 separate tombstones, it would eat resources.  The gather node is a bit crude.

Here, the ground material has a gather node.  The fireball material is highly ambient, and its shape is detailed by displacement mapping (it's actually just a simple sphere with a long tapered cylinder.)

If you have P8/PP2010, set the ghost's material to strongly ambient, engage the IDL and use several ray trace bounces;  if the effect is insufficient, then insert/parent point lights into the ghosts and try again.

Attached Link: fire genie

Oh, for the ghost itself, you can also animate the vaporous material if needed.  I'm getting ready to go off to work, so I don't have time to dig out and screenshot the material room for this right now.

Quote -
If you have P5-P7, I would try inserting/parenting point lights.  One inside the head, one in the torso, one in the abdomen, one between the knees.  Make sure that the ghost is set to not cast shadows, and his material should be highly ambient and fairly transparent.

I have P7.  That is what I'll do.  Bit of a pain, but I won't have to use the gather node.
Thanks a bunch for your help, everyone!

Quote - So, I've been trying to create an animation of a ghost coming out of the ground.  I am using the ol' Edge_Blend connected to a Subtract node and hiding from raytracing trick to create a faded halo around the edges of the figure while having the inside invisible/translucent.

Ok, this really caught my attention, as I have been looking for a way to do Auras, Halos, and such, but I don't catch the exact reference. Is this "trick" from a tutorial somewhere that I could brush up on? I think I got the idea on the subtract node on edge blend, not sure though, and some frame of reference on settings and the exact ray tracing trick would be very useful.  I appreciate any help. As for the Glow you are trying to achieve, there are a couple ways without using an actual light source.
For Poser 7- Set the Ambiance value of any surfaces that will be illuminated to a value of at least 1, set the color to white, and attach a Gather Node to those surfaces.  Set the ghosts Ambiance to anything from 1 to 1000 (depending on how bright you want the glow).  You might need to play with the ambiant settings of surfaces that catch the glow as well.

Poser 8/2010 Pro- Set the ghosts ambiance to anything between 1 and 1000, and set the color you want. In you light and rendering options turn on IBL.

Hope this helps.

Quote - Poser 8/2010 Pro- Set the ghosts ambiance to anything between 1 and 1000, and set the color you want. In you light and rendering options turn on IBL.

You mean IDL.

Quote - > Quote - Poser 8/2010 Pro- Set the ghosts ambiance to anything between 1 and 1000, and set the color you want. In you light and rendering options turn on IBL.

You mean IDL.

Yes, yes I did. Typos happen sometimes, especially when my brain and my hands are not comunicating properly. I would go fix it, but for some reason it wont let me edit that post.  So it should read:

Poser 8/2010 Pro- Set the ghosts ambiance to anything between 1 and 1000, and set the color you want. In you light and rendering options turn on IDL.

and there is the negative shadow trick. 
setting shadow to negative1 will make the shadow light instead of dark.

Quote - and there is the negative shadow trick. 
setting shadow to negative1 will make the shadow light instead of dark.

The shadow setting is a property of the lights though, and would affect everything the light affects, not just a single object or set of objects meant to be luminescent.