Field Mask for Haze

[david.todd]

Is there a Field Mask equivalent for Environmental Haze?

We are trying to stop the haze from rendering inside tunnel areas. 

Thanks.

[silent]

Hi David,

There is no such setting available, I'm afraid. You can control this behavior manually via code. For example, use some shapes or triggers to mark tunnel area and then change Haze parameters to make it render further from the camera.

Thanks!

[chris.dyer]

I wonder if a field haze similar to the one for clouds (field weather) is something that could be be considered to add to the development roadmap (obviously I'm unsure of how difficult this would be under the hood).

The workflow of creating the trigger shapes vs spacer shapes would be pretty much the same as we would need them the entire length of a tunnel (as you can start inside a tunnel)

The issue we have had in the past with changing the parameters is usually on the entry and exit to the tunnels,

On entry you want to see fog in the distance next to the tunnel, but not inside it, and ramping the haze parameters means you always get some awkwardness between trying to not see the fog inside the tunnel but still seeing the fog outside the tunnel.

On exit, you want to see the fog outside the tunnel as you come towards the exit, but not inside the tunnel for too much.
This one is a bit easier to manage as the area of interest is much smaller but still a bit challenging.

The ramping is also ideally spatial rather than temporal to make it more like the effect of the field weather attenuation, which is also a bit more tricky to handle.

 

[silent]

Hi Chris,

Quote

I wonder if a field haze similar to the one for clouds (field weather) is something that could be be considered to add to the development roadmap (obviously I'm unsure of how difficult this would be under the hood).

I'm afraid, that's currently not possible, due to the different nature of these two objects. Clouds are true volumetric objects where the light propagation is simulated through the entire volume, but the Haze itself is rather a complex post-processing effect where you can only control how far from the camera it should be rendered.

Good looking volumetric rendering for ground fog would require a bit more research and effort to make. We have similar task in our to-do list for the future releases (but at this moment with a low priority). Hopefully someday it would be implemented :)

Thanks!

[chris.dyer]

Thanks for the update Silent, that all makes some sense and would be great to see it in the future.

There's no bitfield mask depth check occluder system? :p

In the mean time we can try and try out some different mechanisms and see if we can get it looking ok. 

 

[silent]

Quote

There's no bitfield mask depth check occluder system?

No, I don't think so. Could you please describe what this depth mask should do?

Thanks!