Maxon>Lighting: Creating Caustics
for cinema 4d 7 and up
level: beginner - intermediate
Tips & Techniques - Lighting Creating Caustics
With the release of XL Version 7 comes a powerful new set of features to create more realistic imagery. Among these new features are caustics, which are formed by light being reflected or transmitted by a number of specular (shiny) surfaces before interacting with a diffuse (light scattering) surface. The light cast onto a dining table by a wine glass is one of the most common examples of caustics. This tutorial is more of a quick start guide for helping new users set up the basics to add caustic effects to their images.
Step 1: In order to generate caustics, you need three basic elements: a refractive or reflective object, a light to cast photons, and a surface for the caustics to be cast onto. Begin by creating a simple scene to test out different settings. Start by generating some caustics from a metal object.
Step 2: Create a Floor Object for the caustics to be cast onto (Objects=>Scene=>Floor). Now move the Tube so it rests on...
