faking caustics

[davidh]

Faking Caustics is easy.I have attached an image,many of which you can download from the internet.This job was a rush job,I wasnt able to wait for vray to render with caustics,so I cheated.

All that is required is copying the caustic image,distorting to align with the ceiling and deleting where it does not need to be.You could also copy the caustic image to the pool surface and add a small gaussian blur to help.

You could also copy the caustic image to the wall,distort and add a layer mask downwards to suggest the reflection is fading away.
Keeping it simple.

[mitcorb]

Hey, davidh:
Nice idea. The scene is cool. The source image/texture is fascinating.

[oganocali]

Neat idea and texture indeed, thanks. I did a quick fountain using the texture. Note the default SketchUp textures (somehow I like those). I added the fake caustics to the bottom of the fountain. Vray caustics are turned off.
cheers

fakecaustics.jpg

[mitcorb]

Hi, ogan:
Great job. It looks like you may have done a little bit of scaling or shifting to create some refractive effects? Or is my eye just fooling me? (I don't know which eye--left?, right?, middle? )

[oganocali]

@mitcorb: The top of the surface of water is actually not flat. I modeled the refraction of the water,(no caustics) therefore you notice the shift+distortion. It is a very slight effect though, I am impressed that you noticed at all. The real reason I put the non-planarity on the water surface is for reflection effect.
cheers

[jsmith]

Really Great ceiling idea. I have several caustics I have used, but have never done an interior where this would come into play. I see why you study photographs for ideas!

[TomDC]

Very cool. Thanks for sharing.

[cmoreink]

Thanks for sharing davidh.

[man]

Neat idea and texture indeed, thanks. I did a quick fountain using the texture. Note the default SketchUp textures (somehow I like those). I added the fake caustics to the bottom of the fountain. Vray caustics are turned off.
cheers

fakecaustics.jpg

could you please show the sketchup view for the model? seams like a rendered caustic.

[oganocali]

@man: I just saw your post. I think I understand the issue, for the bottom of the pool I merged the cake caustic pattern with the bottom texture "before" rendering as a texture, I think this was not the original idea but worked fine for me. I am attaching the skp file.