dust in nebula

[mark_aldred]

Has anybody any hints on what combination of settings might get me close to the dust formation (brown part) in the "pillars of creation" image? I don't need this exact shape/configuration, just something that has the same look - dense parts and wispy parts, some nodules branching off.

[Svetlin.Nikolov]

Hey, this specific look seems like a job for the Drag Particles to me. Check the cigarette smoke toolbar preset, and also the Ink in Water example scene here: https://docs.chaos.com/display/PHX4M...nes-Inkinwater

[Svetlin.Nikolov]

Otherwise we also have a Nebula tutorial, which does not look very much like this one, but you can check the render settings and how the stars are scattered: https://docs.chaos.com/display/PHX4MAX/Nebula

[mark_aldred]

Hey, this specific look seems like a job for the Drag Particles to me. Check the cigarette smoke toolbar preset, and also the Ink in Water example scene here: https://docs.chaos.com/display/PHX4M...nes-Inkinwater

Thanks.
I did the nebula tutorial. It was very useful. I also looked at the ink in water data today too and was trying to use that set up but with gas for the render, not the particle shader. Is this possible?

[Svetlin.Nikolov]

It's certainly possible - drag particles can be simulated together with smoke, and then when you render, the simulator renders the smoke and an optional particle shader would take care of rendering the drag particles.

[mark_aldred]

It's certainly possible - drag particles can be simulated together with smoke, and then when you render, the simulator renders the smoke and an optional particle shader would take care of rendering the drag particles.

Thanks.
I've tried enabling smoke in the ink in water data, and the result is ok, but it would be better if I could get it follow and fit the tendril-like pattern of the particles more. Is there a parameter/parameters I can edit to achieve this?

[Svetlin.Nikolov]

Both the smoke and the drag particles are driven by the exact same velocity field, so the only thing I can think of off the top of my head is to increase the resolution. How does it look so far?

[mark_aldred]

Both the smoke and the drag particles are driven by the exact same velocity field, so the only thing I can think of off the top of my head is to increase the resolution. How does it look so far?

I'm struggling a bit. Particles give me the wispiness, but it's impossible (as far as I know?) to move the camera in close and retain a good effect.
I'm getting a reasonable gaseous look (attached image) from playing with smoke and the opacity curve but it lacks the nebulous effect of the particles. Maybe I'll split the scene and do a long shot with the particles and an up shot with the smoke.
Thanks for the advice - I'll try increasing the grid resolution for the smoke.

[mark_aldred]

Getting closer ..

[Svetlin.Nikolov]

Sweet! Starting to look very nice! I believe the original ink in water scene had Count Multiplier for the Particle Shader, so you should already be using that, but just wanted to note that for close ups this is the option you should be using.

Ah, or maybe there is one more alternative - you could render the particles in Fog mode instead of Points mode. You just have to watch out for the fog resolution - start off with a very large fog voxel size and gradually decrease it - it will increase the memory usage and the render times a lot if you choose too low voxel size.

[mark_aldred]

Thanks for the help!
I did try fog but as you say, I found the render was taking far too long. I'll try again using your advice.