A sample of normalized <#841#>fBm<#841#> (see the <#842#>fbm<#842#> texture) is generated at the point of intersection. This sample is used to modulate the surface transparency. The final transparency if a function of the sample value, the the proximity of the point of intersection to the edge of the sphere (as seen from the ray origin), and three parameters to control the overall ``density.'' The proximity of the point to the sphere edge is determined by evaluating a <#843#>limb<#843#> function, which varies from 0 on the limb to 1 at the center of the sphere.
If a <#859#>colormap<#859#> is named, a 256-entry colormap is read from the named file, and the sample of fBm is scaled by 255 and is used as an index into the colormap. The resulting colormap entry is used to scale the ambient and diffuse components of the object's surface.