AmbientOcclusion

This shader node calculates ambient occlusion for 3D scenes rendered into 2D using the RayRender node. AmbientOcclusion is not supported by ScanlineRender or PrmanRender.

See also RayRender.

Inputs and Controls

Connection Type

Connection Name

Function

Input

unnamed

Either:

The 2D image you’re using for the surface texture, or

Another shader node, such as Diffuse, Specular, or Emission. Adding several shader nodes one after the other allows you to produce more complex effects.

Control (UI)

Knob (Scripting)

Default Value

Function

samples

samples

10

Controls the number of rays used to detect if an object is occluded. Increasing the number of samples reduces noise and produces a better quality result, but increases render times.

spread

spread

1

Controls the angular spread around the normal in the range 0-1, where 1 is equal to 90° (the full hemisphere).

falloff

falloff

0

Sets the exponential falloff rate for the occlusion along the ray distance.

near clip

near

0

Controls the minimum (near) and maximum (far) occlusion distances sampled when calculating ambient occlusion.

far clip

far

10

Step-by-Step Guides

Object Material Properties