I made a simple ring to try out some ideas with SubSurfaceScattering fakes in Bryce, see if I could pull any more realism out of it. Here's a comparison. All of the bloodpearls are lit internally by one central radial (each, so three radials total here). The first is just the three pearls and their lights, the second is the three and then three duplicated, only slightly (101%) larger glass spheres to add shinyness. In the third (bottom left) I multi-replicated each pearl 5 times, at 99% size decrease each time. So each pearl has 6 layers of world-space pearl texturing, and no glass layer, but still keeping the internal radial lights. In the last, I used PS to blend all three together equally. The last one doesn't look much different from the first or third. The question is, which one looks the most realistic, or the best? Or do they all look like garbage?!?

I like the top right and lower left most. They both seem best lit and each are somewhat more diffused than the others.

In most scenes 3 of them would hardly show any change. Not bad at all. Now the Top right version is really nice. It looks as if the outer glass layer is taking on the color of the darker surface giving it an almost Garnet look. Love the yellow metal, would make a great mat for heavy construction vehicles. Most realistic: Top right. Nice stuff ICM

I agree, top right looks the best.

Then top-right it is. Here's a larger WIP render... Since then, I've added a weird structure around the pearl's settings. I'll post that later after it's done...

I like the top right,and lower left as well.But how is this faking SSS? Wouldnt it be faking caustics and refraction?I thought SSS only applied to stuff like skin,plants,plastics, and opaque objects that still lets minor amounts of light to go through.

No, that's all just regular effects, Twisted. I guess I'm so used to caustics/refracion and softshadows/GI that I forgot I'd done them here... The subsurface scattering SHOULD be happening in the bottom left one. I used 6 spheres, each slightly smaller than each other and transparent, set to a complex WorldSpace fractal in an attempt to give it more "depth". It didn't work as good as I had hoped... There should have been a much bigger difference in the top left and the bottom left...

Hmmm...maybe booleaned spheres would help ad depth.The transperency may be blown out by the lights inside the spheres too maybe.Still, good looking effect.

I'm not sure what I should be looking for here, but asthetically I agree with the rest, I liked the actual colour of the ring's spheres in the top right image, but in the bottom left image the spheres seems to have more... glow. Certainly the bottom left is better than the top left or bottom right for that.

P.S. Loved the wet stone the ring is lying on. Is that one of your own mats?

Message edited on: 05/24/2005 05:02

Aye, thank you Fran! All mats are my own these days, it's so simple to make a new texture in the DTE I just do it out of habit... The ground texture is "from scratch" as it were, just something I was trying out. Gave me some interesting ideas, such as multi-replicating a million tiny spheres, randomizing their sizes and positions a bit, and actually CUTTING into the ground. You'd have to use a cube instead of a plain, but we'll see how it looks!

A million? When do you find the time? Oh, oh! Tut? (pleeding expression) (for that wet stone texture I mean, or similar)

Message edited on: 05/24/2005 07:10

Well, I finished the ring, now I'm just waiting another two days while it renders. No premium effects, regular AA. I tried a fake SSS method, which didn't work, so then I decided to go for a real subsurface scattering method. Which is working, but very, very slowly...