Okay, help me out. What are caustics and how can I use them in Bryce? Or have I been using them and just not knowing the proper name for them?

Caustics are those neat-looking effects on underwater scenes where light patterns are seen on the bottom caused by the water... Umm... not really good at explaining it, but I hope you get the idea. As for how to do it in Bryce, well, I've never tried it, so I don't know. I've seen others do it, though, so someone should be able to tell you. =) Rosh

The one way I have seen them done is by using a light source with a gel on it that mimics the shimmers on the floor of the ocean. you might have to make the gel or find one

What? Find one? You mean use someone else's gel??? Rosh

:)

Oh, goddess forbid I should use someone else's gel. Why...that would be...like just coloring in a coloring book. Lol. Actually I use gels all the time, just never used em underwater. Asked because one of the magazines I get for free was advertising a new program and made a big deal out of now having built in caustics.

Bones when programs talk about built in caustics I think they are on about reflected light from mirrors, water surfaces and polished surfaces etc some of the calculations can take many many hours rendering same as when radiosity solutions have to be calculated. Chris-S

ah well, reflected light could be useful in the extreme. That's one area bryce does rather fall down in

I came across this Caustics tutorial for Bryce a while ago, hope it helps. http://visualmagic.awn.com/archive/archive06.html

Thanks toolman