Render settings
Liquids and volumes need render settings that the defaults get wrong. BLUX applies them in two situations, and you can also set them yourself.
When BLUX changes your render settings
Section titled “When BLUX changes your render settings”BLUX leaves your render settings alone unless you ask. Two things apply them:
- Templates with Add Camera & Lights. With that option on (at the bottom of the Templates menu), a template also adds a camera, three area lights, a shadow-catcher floor and a dark studio world, and tunes the render settings below.
- Scripts and render farms. The operators
blux.setup_render_engine(production render settings) andblux.setup_studio_render(the same plus an optional studio rig) exist for scripts. The sidebar does not offer them.
Cycles settings for physics
Section titled “Cycles settings for physics”| Setting | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Transparent bounces | 16 | Overlapping volume boxes and liquid glass do not clip to black. |
| Transmission bounces | 12 | Every droplet is two refractive interfaces, so light through a splash dies at the default limit. |
| Volume bounces | 4 | Multiple scattering in smoke and milky water. |
| Total and glossy bounces | at least 16 and 6 | Never lowered below your own values. |
| Refractive and reflective caustics | off | Slow to converge and mostly noise. |
| Volume step rate | 1.0 | |
| Denoising | on | |
| Motion blur | on, shutter 0.5 | Remeshed liquids and fast grains only blur if motion blur is on. |
| View transform | AgX | Keeps fire and molten lava from clipping to flat yellow. |
In EEVEE, ray tracing and motion blur are turned on.
Blaze volumes
Section titled “Blaze volumes”For a Blaze scene, BLUX sets these from the solver’s voxel size and the domain:
- Cycles volume steps at the VDB’s own voxel size, with the maximum steps raised to cover the domain.
- EEVEE volumetric samples from 64 to 256 depending on the voxel size, no light clamp, and volumetric shadows on.
- EEVEE’s volume range is fitted to the domain as seen from the camera, so depth resolution lands on the gas.
- Emission and the volume light passes are enabled for compositing.
The studio rig
Section titled “The studio rig”The optional studio rig is one collection, BLUX_Studio, that is replaced each time:
- A warm key light, a cool dim fill and a bright rim light, all area lights aimed at the domain.
- A shadow-catcher floor, so the simulation composites onto any backplate. EEVEE has no shadow catcher, so a Holdout material keeps the floor transparent there.
- A camera, if the scene has none.
- Render volumes at 64 samples or more.
- If liquid glass renders black, raise transmission and transparent bounces.
- Rebuild or resync the render mesh after baking with Rebuild Render Mesh.