Fine Dust Particles In Atmosphere

[pyromaniac511]

hi,
I have been using maya for the last 18 months. the class im in now requires me to use alternative 3d packages. my question id how can I get fine dust particles to float in the air in 3ds max. I did some research and some one said to use HV sprites. I couldnt figure out how to use those. is there a way to paint particles. what are your suggestions. I appologize for being a noob.... I'm just having trouble ajusting to the new buttons

we have other software available too. 3ds max, houdini, shake, nuke, after affects and vue. were just not allowed to use maya

[e321]

Odd, a class that doesn't allow you to use Maya - Max can do these things just not as well as Maya - maybe I shouldn't say that entirely - it can I suppose it just takes oodles of extra work.

Anyway how do these particles need to float? Just everywhere in the air?

[pyromaniac511]

the class is designed to make us learn how to go from package to package. the school mostly uses maya so they want us to learn how to adapt to other interfaces. they just need to float, maybe a slight movement. in maya I could fake this with an animated 3d fractal in the light..... perhaps I can fake it in max too.

[jefftj86]

if you need simple volume light variation then you can do it with the volume light environment light option and attach it to a spot or directional light. If you are using a more complex mental ray shader then you can use a particle system and create physical geometry that will cast shadows as they pass through the light beams.. do keep in mind that this will increase render times due to volume light raytraced shadows.

play around with the following:

Render>Environment
Click Add> Volume Light
select your spotlight
... this is for the default scan line renderer only...
tweak it to your preferences.

Mental ray

refer to this tutorial:
http://www.3dluvr.com/content/article/150
and tweak settings ...

good luck!