Volume Noise

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Volume Noise

Can be used to create many different types of effects.

You can find this texture in the Create bar. To apply this texture as a texture map, see Map a 2D or 3D texture.

Threshold: The number added to the whole fractal, making it uniformly brighter. If some parts of the fractal are pushed up out of range (greater than 1.0), they are clipped to 1.0. If the Volume Noise is used as a bump map, it appears as plateau regions.
Amplitude: Scaling factor applied to all the values in the texture, centered around the texture's average value.

When you increase Amplitude, the light areas get lighter and the dark areas get darker.

If Volume Noise is used as a bump map, increasing Amplitude results in higher bumps and deeper valleys.

If set to a value greater than 1.0, the parts of the texture that scale out of range are clipped. On a bump map, they display as plateau regions.
Ratio: Controls the fractal noise frequency. Increase this value to increase fractal detail and make it finer.
Frequency Ratio: Determines the relative spacial scale of the noise frequencies. If not a whole number, the fractal does not repeat at the UV boundaries. For instance, a cylinder with default placement appears a seam.
Depth Max: Controls how much calculation is done by the Volume Noise texture. Since the Fractal texture process produces a more detailed fractal, it takes longer to perform. By default, the texture chooses an appropriate level for the volume being rendered. Use Depth Max to control the maximum amount of calculation for the texture.
Inflection: Applies a kink in the noise function. Useful for creating puffy or bumpy effects.
Time: Used to animate the Volume Noise texture. You can keyframe the Time attribute to control the rate and amount of change of the texture.
Frequency: Determines the fundamental frequency for the noise. As this value increases the noise becomes more detailed. It has the inverse effect of the scale parameter.
Scale: Determines the scale of the noise in the local X, Y, and Z directions. This is similar to scaling the transform node for the texture. When you increase Scale, the fractal detail seems to smear out in the direction you choose.
Origin: The zero point for the noise. Changing this value moves the noise through space.

Noise Type

Determines which noise to use during the fractal iteration. Select from the following:

Perlin Noise: The standard 3D noise used in the solidFractal texture.
Billow: A puffy, cloud-like effect.
VolumeWave: A sum of 3D waves in space.
Wispy: A Perlin noise that is uses a second noise as a smear map; this makes the noise stretch out in places, looking wispy. When the time value is animated the smear texture is moved causing an undulating effect. It creates an effect similar to thin clouds being blown by wind.
SpaceTime: A 4-dimensional version of the Perlin noise, where time is the 4th dimension.

Density: Controls how many cells are embedded in the medium used by the Billow noise type.

At 1.0, the medium is completely packed with cells. Reduce this value to make the cells sparser. If the texture is used as a bump map, low values for Density results in smooth looking surfaces with occasional bumps.
Spottyness: Controls the density randomization of individual cells used by the Billow noise type.

When set close to 0, all the cells are the same density. As you increase Spottyness, some cells are randomly denser or thinner than others.
Size Rand: Controls the randomization of the size of the individual blobs used by the Billow noise type. When it is close to 0, all the cells are the same size. As you increase Size Rand, some cells are smaller than others, in a random fashion.
Randomness: Controls how the cells for the Billow noise type are arranged relative to one another. Set to 1.0 for a more natural random distribution of cells.

If set to 0, all the spots are laid out in a regular pattern. This can provide interesting effects when used as a bump map—for instance, you can make things like insect eyes, or machine-tooled raspy surfaces.

Falloff

Controls the way intensity falls off for individual blobs for the Billow noise type. Select from the following:

Linear: A uniform falloff from the center to a value of zero at the edges of the blobs.
Smooth: More natural looking, using a gaussian falloff.
Fast: Focuses the intensity more towards the center of the blobs.
Bubble: Uses a reverse falloff, fading to zero at the blob center.

Num Waves: Determines how many waves to generate for the Volume Wave noise type. The larger the number, the more random-looking and slower the texture.