Steamer v1.1



Optimizations:

Steamer object rendering speed has been improved by 2000%. This allows the use of objects with high point count, including complex particle objects. 

Particle Storm support has been improved to work faster and requires less system overhead. 

Light cone rendering has been optimized with new sampling methods that allow fewer samples to achieve a smooth result. The sample quality has improved by a sample of four. This will improve overall rendering appearance and improve
render times. These enhancements also reduce aliasing during animation of the light cones. 

"Half res" has been modified to improve interpolation from half to full resolution imagery. Along with general enhancements of the smoothing mechanism, there are user definable parameters to set the final quality of the interpolation. This
enhancement requires the addition of the Steamer_Doubler plug in. (See new feature docs for more information.) 

Direst access of Steamy_Particles is now available from the main Steamer window. Clicking on the Params button will bring forward the Steamy_Particles displacement plug in. This allows the user to make quick adjustments to the
Steamy_Particles parameters without leaving Steamer. 



New Features:

Alpha Out 

This allows Steamer to save opacity values for each pixel directly to the alpha channel. Luminosity values remain excluded as they are covered in the additive compositing process. 

Render Mode 

When rendering volumetric particle effects the default Additive rendering mode can create undesirable results. The default Additive mode causes each pixel value to be added to the next depending on their proximity to one another. In
cases where particles are dense this can create very hot or blooming surfaces. The three alternate rendering modes will give varying results. Fuzzy Blooby should be used when trying to avoid hot points, as is the case with generating
smoke or steam. 
  

Shadow Strength 

Shadow strength is activated when using Inner Shadows. This is a percentage value that determines the contrast between the light and dark areas. Values over 100% will create higher contrast shadows, values lower than 100% will
reduce the contrast. 
  

Local Coordinates 

The Fractal Noise section now has a Local Coordinates option. This will attach the fractal pattern to the object so as the light or particle moves the fractal noise will travel along with it. This can be especially useful with particle rendering
as each particle will contain its own fractal variation. When animated, each particle will maintain its own fractal pattern. This is far more visually effective when trying to simulate smoke. 

Noise Filter 

The Noise Filter pop up is a variant for the Fractal Noise generator. The default fractal pattern is now labeled Bumpy. This filter will create random "bumps" or pits in the shading of the algorithmic effect. There are two new filters, Fibers
and Smoky. Fibers will create random sqiggled strips rather than speroid bumps. Smoky creates a less dense form of Fibers. Both are very useful for creating smoke like effects. 

Steamer-doubler: 

Steamer_doubler must be installed right after Steamer, it performs the second pass after Steamer's rendering pass when 'half res' is on. Default values give a good balance between quality and render time. 

'Adaptive Sampling': this option is very similar to Lightwave's AntiAliasing options. When off, Steamer performs a brute interpolation between pixels. When on, Steamer doubler checks for each pixel if it has to be recalculated or not,
depending on its boundary pixels. 

- 'Sampling Threshold': this controls the edge detection that decides which pixel should be recalculated. Pixel below the threshold level will be recalculated, Pixels above will be simply interpolated between neighboring pixels. Low values
of threshold will make higher quality images with finer details but with higher render times. If 'Steamer doubler' is installed and 'Half Res' is off, 'Steamer doubler' will be bypassed during rendering. If Steamer doubler creates aliasing
problems on objects boundaries, the threshold should be set to low values (below 4). 
  

Steamy Particles: 

- 'Transition Smoothness': this control has a color ramp that shows the speed of the progression between the start parameter value and the end parameter value. The red line shows the position of the average values interpolated between
Steamer's values and Steamy Particle's values.