glass and metal caustics

[JeZ]

2 part question about glass and metal caustics, how it appears...

1- I am wondering what is the difference between easy9 and easy10. With easy10, will the caustics be just more realistic or the caustics will be more visible? I am trying to figure out if I should use easy10 everytime I have glass or metal in a scene (when I want materials to be as realistic as possible)

2- Are these caustics appearing overtime? If a scene is clear enough at 80 passes, would there be more of these at 300 passes? And, is it the same for easy9 and 10?


I read many times the manual and Fletch's "which render setting is better" post, but I am still not sure...

Cheers.

Jerome

[Fletch]

First, remember that caustics are very 'touchy'... even in real life - the light source must be "just so" and hitting the surface at just the right angle, reflecting onto an adjacent surface at just the right angle, etc. Often they will not be sharp bright white, sometimes they are just a soft lightening of an adjacent surface.

Caustics for metals and glass show in Easy 09 or 10 when using Light Emitting Surfaces or HDR Spherical Sky to light the scene

Caustics for metals and glass only show in Easy 10 for Twilight Physical Sun and Sky, point, or spot lights. (including ies, projector lights)

If you are rendering in Easy 10 and do not see caustics after only a few passes (3-5), you will not see them no matter how many passes are made - either you will see them right away or not at all. They are calculated along with the entire scene as a whole, not added in later by the render method.

Caustics may be more obvious/stronger in some Easy 3-5 methods, as they use 'pseudo' caustics... making the calculations much quicker, but also maybe looking different from what you will see with other methods. Easy 6-7 use simple caustic calculation... meaning longer render times.

[JeZ]

Thanks Fletch.

This is exactly what I wanted to know.

Well, could you clarify something:

Is there any other differences between easy9 and 10 other than what you explained?

Cheers.

Jerome

[Fletch]

... Easy 9 is faster in every scene I've ever tried.
I know some people that render cars in lighting studios that render exclusively with Easy 10 (and they have very fast computers)