i just seen a program on TV about experiments that changed the world (hang on, keep reading!) and one was how prisms refract light into it's seperate colors, dig out you pink floyd cd. I tried to simulate this in vue but i'm struggling, anyone done it already? does vue have the ability to do this, i think it does as you get refractive index's of glass and stuff. have a look at the pic, you need a pierce of light going into the prism then hitting a wall to see the colors. just thought it's pretty cool, i'll keep going!

oh yeah, you gotta be in total darkness otherwise other light wouod get in the way.

Sorry, I can't answer your question, but your post just gave me the urge to listen to this album again :D

oh well, maybe i'll post a question of how to do the tool 'smoke box' thing and inspire you some more ;)

ROFL :D

Hey that album was on the Top 100 best selling for like, over ten years...and with good cause too. The CD's in my car..hold on..... Ok, back... I don't know if it would be possible, but it would make for one great experiment, but I think that Vue's limit on "real world lighting" is probably limited to shadows. Unless it were specifically programmed to split light into it's various frequencies which make up the visible spectrum, I don't see it as being possible. And if it were, we could probably equally create effects such as interference patterns...then quantum physics...maybe Vue would make a good time machine. ;)

heyas; no, vue doesn't do this. at least, version 3 didnt, i tried it. i think its because it only traces single rays, and it will follow distortions through glass, but it doesnt distort the ray itself to 'spread it out' into the constituent light colours. magnification should work, however, like it does in bryce. if you create a lens model and put the right glass material on it....

oh! on to the other part of your question, if you want to simulate (ie: 'fake') it..... personally, id make one cone of fake volumetric light (you can use a real volumetric cone if you want, you might have trouble getting it to stop where you want.) and then another cone or 7 of the rainbow colours. you might be able to do a spot with a rainbow-bar gel on it into this cone.... try that out. and then just poke the cones into the prism model at the appropriate places.

ah, right. so if it can only trace single rays at lights at a time then it aint gonna be able to split it up into different colors because that would mean turning it into many different points of light. sure, fair enough i guess. so, does that mean that high end products struggle as well (3dsmax etc..)?

just seen the tip, nice idea! i just wondered if it was possible, real physics etc... but, i think we just found the next idea for vue 5! real world light simulation to the extreme! lets give the programmers the biggest headache ever (no, i dont have shares in a paracetemol company but it could be profitable). Ta for the advice.

I doubt it could be done in Max or Maya either, but certainly, the effect could be faked...just like the PF cover was "faked". The best way to see how prisms really work is to grab up a real one and stick it on the windowsill. Looks very different from the artistic versions. :)

i've never seen this effect native in any 3D program. it goes beyond simple refraction....it depends on the property of materials to change refraction according to the wavelength of the incident light. this level of detail in the optical physics of the raytracer is probably too much to ask...but e-on is always good at amazing :) .... bring it on in Vue 5!

Gee, what album is that?? Who's pink floyd??? :)

Hi Tradivoro, ...It is like asking "Who is Elvis?" :)... Go directly and buy that CD (and maybe even better the one called "The Wall")...they are kind of the best records ever made... Enjoy Sunshine in Life Ole

Nah Ole, I was being funny... :) I was an adult when these guys were doing UmmaGumma... I still have the vinyl version of this and the above record... However, they kind of lost it for me after "Wish you were here".... Still like St. Tropez though... I just got a kick out of the: "i just seen a program on TV about experiments that changed the world (hang on, keep reading!) and one was how prisms refract light into it's seperate colors, dig out you pink floyd cd."