Photon

Category: Processing > Raytracing

Shader Family: Texture

Output: Color

Emits photons onto a scene based on surface characteristics, such as diffusion and transparency. You can manipulate photon properties such as specular color, refraction, etc. This tool is used to create caustics, and it is usually connected to the Photon input of the Material node.

Name	The shader's name. Enter any name you like, or leave the default.
Diffuse	Defines the color of the cast photon based on diffuse reflection.
Specular	Defines the color of the cast photon based on specular reflection and mirror reflection.
Transparency	Defines the transparency level of the photon color when passing through the object. 0 makes the color opaque; 1 makes it transparent.
Index of Refraction	Controls the bending of the photon as it passes through material. This parameter defines the index of refraction, which varies according to the nature of the material. (The refractive index of glass is roughly 1.33.) The default is 1, which is the refractive index of air, allowing light rays to pass straight through a transparent material without distortion.

Render Tree Usage

This shader is connected to the Photon input of the Material Node. Without this shader (or a surface connection in the Photon input), caustics and global illumination effects will not render. Instead of defining a color, you can also connect a texture to either the Diffuse, Specular or Transparency inputs.

Placing another shader, such as a color correction shader, between the Material node and this shader will nullify any photon effect. This shader must be directly connected to the material node.