Pixotope Volume Light - fast lighting tool

Pixotope Volume Light is a volumetric lighting tool that can create dense atmospheric lighting at extremely low performance cost.

Use it as supplementary lighting tool for scenes that need

extra depth
silhouette separation
custom regional coloring
visual effects enhancement
etc.

**Before** and after of the PixotopeExterior example

Mixing

The settings allow for a variety of ways to mix the light into the scene. Depending on the settings a diffuse, additive or subtractive look can be achieved, and any mix in-between.

Diffuse Mixing	Additive Mixing	Subtractive Mixing
Non-black color Alpha gain at 1.0	Low alpha gain (for example 0.05) High color gain (for example 50.0)	Dark color or pure black

Light settings

Blue/Yellow/Green/Red Pin (Gradient mask)	Sets the light opacity gradient for each corner of the plane. If all pins are set to 1.0 the shape becomes spherical.
Fade Depth	Sets the density of the light volume by view depth starting from the surface plane of the light
Alpha Gain	Sets the opacity of the light color
Color Gain	Sets the light color brightness
Color	Sets the light color

Checkout the videos below to see how the settings change the lights behaviour.

Adjust gradient mask

Adjust fade depth

Adjust alpha, color and depth

Tutorial

In this tutorial we will be adding atmospheric lighting to the river segment of the Pixotope Exterior example project (LVL_PixotopeExterior).

The lighting will be set up to suit camera angles from the bridge. The settings of the lights will be predominantly additive, with low alpha values and high color gain to emulate the refractive properties of water molecules, oxygen and ozone.

Approximate camera view to base the lighting on.

Add main atmosphere

BP_PX_VolumeLight_MainAtmosphere’s scene contribution.

Add a BP PX Volume Light from the Place Actors > Pixotope panel
Rename it to BP_PX_VolumeLight_MainAtmosphere to more easily identify it later
Position the light in front of the bridge and scale it so it fills the view from the bridge
- This light will act as the main atmospheric color of the scene

Placement	Settings	Color (HSV)

Add river atmosphere

BP_PX_VolumeLight_RiverAtmosphere’s scene contribution

Add a BP PX Volume Light
Rename it to BP_PX_VolumeLight_RiverAtmosphere
Position the light so it covers the general path of the river
- This light will act as the water haze living around the river’s path

Placement	Settings	Color (HSV)

Add sun glow

BP_PX_VolumeLight_SunGlowA’s scene contribution

Add a BP PX Volume Light
Rename it to BP_PX_VolumeLight_SunGlowA

This light will act as an atmospheric glow from the sunlight creating silhouette separation between the buildings on the left of the river.

Placement	Settings	Color (HSV)

BP_PX_VolumeLight_SunGlowB’s scene contribution

Add a BP PX Volume Light
Rename it to BP_PX_VolumeLight_SunGlowB

This light will work together with SunGlowA to create even further silhouette separation between the big tree on the left and the buildings in front and behind.

Placement	Settings	Color (HSV)

Add water haze

Add a BP PX Volume Light
Rename it to BP_PX_VolumeLight_WaterHazeA

This light will act as the water vapor around the first river fall.

BP_PX_VolumeLight_WaterHazeA’s scene contribution

Placement	Settings	Color (HSV)

Add a BP PX Volume Light
Rename it to BP_PX_VolumeLight_WaterHazeB

This light will act as the water vapor around the second river fall.

BP_PX_VolumeLight_WaterHazeB’s scene contribution

Placement	Settings	Color (HSV)

Add a BP PX Volume Light
Rename it to BP_PX_VolumeLight_WaterHazeRiver

This light will act as a general water vapor for the distant part of the river adding more depth in general to the river path.

BP_PX_VolumeLight_WaterHazeRiver’s scene contribution

Placement	Settings	Color (HSV)

You have now added all the lights needed for our custom atmosphere. Notice the changing color gradients, depth and silhouette separation that has been added to the scene.