VolumeRays

The VolumeRays node is actually a gizmo (a group of nodes) designed to create ray lighting effects radiating from the vol_pos indicator in the Viewer.

Inputs and Controls

Connection Type	Connection Name	Function
Input	img	The image sequence to receive the VolumeRays effect.
mask	An optional image to use as a mask. By default, the effect is limited to the non-black areas of the mask. At first, the mask input appears as triangle on the right side of the node, but when you drag it, it turns into an arrow labeled mask. If you cannot see the mask input, ensure that the mask control is disabled or set to none.

Connection Type

Connection Name

Function

Input

img

The image sequence to receive the VolumeRays effect.

mask

An optional image to use as a mask. By default, the effect is limited to the non-black areas of the mask.

At first, the mask input appears as triangle on the right side of the node, but when you drag it, it turns into an arrow labeled mask. If you cannot see the mask input, ensure that the mask control is disabled or set to none.

Control (UI)	Knob (Scripting)	Default Value	Function
User Tab
Volumetric Creation	style	RGB Luminance	Sets the style of rays to create, dependent on the available input channels: • RGB Luminance - creates rays based on the input image luminance. • Alpha Edges - creates rays based on the input image alpha's edges. This setting has no visible effect on full frame alphas because the rays are created outside the format. • Alpha Solid - creates rays based on the input image's entire alpha. • Shadow Making - creates rays using the input image's alpha to cast shadows.
RGB Options
Luma Tolerance	luma_tol	0	Sets the base luminance below which rays are not generated. Increasing this value eliminates rays produced from low luminance areas of the image.
Alpha Options
Edge Size	edge_size	0	Adjusts the thickness of the alpha’s edges, controlling the amount of rays affected by the alpha. Positive values decrease the number of rays allowed past the edges and vice versa.
Edge Blur	blur_size	3	Controls the amount of blur applied to rays at the alpha’s edges.
Volume Options
Volumetrics Center	vol_pos	100,100	Sets the x and y positions for the vol_pos widget in the Viewer.
Ray Length	raylength	20	Sets the length of the generated rays.
Pre-Ray Blur	pre_blur	0	Sets the amount of blurring applied to the rays.
Quality	quality	Medium	Controls the quality of the rays produced: • Low • Medium • High • Very High Note: Higher quality rays take longer to render.
Add on Top	comp_me	disabled	When enabled, the effect overlay and the input image are passed from the node. When disabled, only the effect is passed from the node for compositing purposes.
Flicker Options
Use Flickering	chk_flicker	enabled	When enabled, the Flicker Options are applied to the rays.
Flicker Speed	flicker_speed	2	Controls the speed of ray flickering. Higher values produce more flicker.
Flicker Size	flicker_size	40	Controls the size of flicker to generate artificially if the vol_pos widget is static. Note: If Transform Noise with Volume Center is enabled, this control has no effect on the rays.
Transform Noise with Volume Center	xform_flicker	disabled	When enabled, flicker noise moves with the vol_pos widget so that flickering is the result of the FlickerSpeed only. When disabled, flicker is artificially generated using the Flicker Size value.
Color Options
Desaturate before Coloring	chk_desat	disabled	When enabled, the input image is fully desaturated so that generated rays do not pickup color from the input.
Volume Gamma	CCorrect1_gamma	1	Controls the overall amount of Gamma applied to the generated rays.
Volume Gain	CCorrect1_gain	1	Controls the overall amount of Gain applied to the generated rays.
Initial Volume Color	initcolor	1
End Volume Color	volume_end_color	0,0,0,0
Radial Falloff
Enable Radial Falloff	chk_radial	enabled	When enabled, the Radial Falloff controls are applied to the rays.
Radial Size	radial_size	500
Radial Falloff	rad_softness	1	Controls the amount of falloff as rays move away from the vol_pos widget in the Viewer. Higher values cause the rays to fade more rapidly.
Mask Options
Enable Mask	chk_use_mask	disabled	When enabled, any image connected to the Mask input is used as a mask. Note: The mask must contain an alpha channel.
Mask Blur	mask_blur	0	Adjusts the blur applied to the edges of the mask.
Transform Mask with Volume Center	chk_xform_mask	disabled	When enabled, the mask and vol_pos widget’s relative positions are maintained - any transform applied to the vol_pos widget is applied to the mask. When disabled, the mask is not transformed by vol_pos widget.