Volume Material with reflective caustics.

Corona Corona for 3ds Max Help Required
1

I’m trying to visualize the path that light takes after hitting a reflective surface.

I’m trying to use a volume material to see how light travels through space.

Volume material seems to work with refractive caustics, but not reflective.

Caustics is enabled, I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong.

Thanks.

ps. Alternatively, If someone knows a good workflow for visualizing light paths… The work I’m doing is similar to what a car light designer would do, so there must be a good solution for it, preferably inside MAX.

2

Caustics don’t work inside volumetric materials, a known limitation (or rather they are calculated the old way, which is pretty much the same as saying they don’t work :smiley: ). Listed on https://coronarenderer.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/12000056738-how-to-render-caustics-with-the-new-caustics-solver-

The only way to visualize light in a medium would be by faking it, by creating other lights to shine in the reflected direction directly, or otherwise adding geometry with Corona Light Materials on them etc.

3

If you really need accurate volumetric caustics then Indigo render is your best bet