Atmospheric effects (scattering, volumetric light, caustics through water and glass)

Paint light scattering through air, fog, water, and glass, including beams, haze, and caustic patterns.

What it is

Particles in air, fog, smoke, and moisture scatter and filter light. Water and glass bend and focus it. You can show these effects through light beams, haze, glowing fog, distant forms, and bright patterns beneath water or glass.

Give air or fog a faint value and, when needed, a hint of color. Use soft cones or shafts where particles catch strong light. Distant forms lose contrast, shift toward the sky color, and soften at the edges. Backlit dust, mist, rain, and smoke glow where light passes through them, while foreground silhouettes remain darker and sharper.

Treat volumetric light as a 3D shape, such as a window beam, flashlight cone, or sunlight through trees. Adjust its thickness for clean air or heavy fog. The beam is brighter where it faces you and fades along its path. Objects that block it interrupt the beam and cast softer shadows into the haze. Caustics are concentrated light patterns formed by curved transparent or reflective surfaces. Water can create broken, animated patches on pool floors, rocks, and characters. Glass and liquids can cast warped bright shapes onto nearby surfaces. Patterns are sharpest and highest in contrast where light is focused, and they follow the receiving surface.

Why it matters

These effects help show the thickness of air, the presence of moisture, and the way water and glass affect light. Weak control can leave distant forms too crisp, make beams fail to illuminate the surrounding space, or make underwater and rainy scenes read like dry scenes with blue color added.

You can check it when

✓Paint atmospheric perspective in fog, haze, or thick air. Distant forms should lose contrast, saturation, and edge sharpness in a controlled way.
✓Paint a visible beam through a window, trees, or a flashlight. Objects in its path should interrupt or soften the beam and affect the haze.
✓Paint an underwater or rainy scene with filtered color, reduced contrast, and highlights and shadows that differ from those in dry air.
✓Paint caustic patterns from water or glass. They should follow the receiving surface and appear brighter and crisper where light is focused.

Atmospheric effects (scattering, volumetric light, caustics through water and glass)

What it is

Why it matters

You can check it when

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