Caustics in animation

[toby™]

Hi there...

Due to some experimental stuff on caustics, I wanted to know whether it's possible to compute the caustics' solution in a map, incremented per frame, if I want to render a picture sequence. Or is that being done automatically?
Within irradiance mapping and lightcache method I can use Multiframe incremental or even "World", but there's no such storing or calculating option in Caustics rollout.

Anyone an idea?

[vlado]

If you will be rendering a sequence where only the camera moves, then you can calculate the caustics photon map once, for any frame in the animation, and then use the same saved map for all the frames. This is because the caustics map is not view-dependent, and if no objects move, it is the same throughout the entire animation.

Best regards,
Vlado

[toby™]

Well, ok. That makes sense though.

I should've been more specific... In my case, I've applied a noise-modifier on a plane to simulate some water in a basin and turned on the animate option. Therefore, I was looking for a multiframe-incremental solution.
Now, I think that won't make sense, cos there won't be more photons in that scene than shot into in one single frame. So, a storing solution, depending on each particiular frame is needed.
This kinda way might not really be useable end will end up in a huge caustics-file, 'cos every photon-simulation is stored within this one file, for every single frame.

E.g.:
- calculated caustics take 2,4MB for 1 frame
- 240 MB for 100 frames (should be more, because the storing has to be processed in an array afaik)

Am I thinking correctly?

[DaForce]

http://www.chaosgroup.com/forum/phpB...273&highlight=

Beat you to it.

Would be good it it were possible to do. Vlado

[toby™]

Thank you -- seems you asked for this feature times before

[DaForce]

indeed yes.

Now if only it becomes a reality