D5 Particles casting shadows and blocking caustics

[wdcstudios3d]

I’m working on a water feature and I’m having trouble when adding particles from the asset library.

The particles seems to be casting shadows and blocking the caustics coming up from the water.

Is there away to stop the particles from casting shadows or affecting caustics?

I’m using D5pro version 3.0.1

Thanks in advance for any help.

Particles hidden

Particles shown

[Clov]

Hi @wdcstudios3d

Could you please specify which particle was used for this scene?

• Currently, there is no option to exclude the particle from shadow calculations. However, since the particle can also create caustics, I believe this shouldn’t completely prevent their formation. We will take this feedback into consideration for improvement.

[wdcstudios3d]

Hi @Clov

I’m just using multiples versions of Fountain and Fountain 05.

[Clov]

Hi @wdcstudios3d

Is it possible to share this file with us?

[wdcstudios3d]

Hi @Clov,

I DMed you a link to download my scene files.

[Clov]

Hi @wdcstudios3d

I just tested your file:

• The left image has no particles, and the right image has particles enabled.
  
  
• I’m using D5 Render 3.0.1.0683 with the latest NVIDIA Drivers, and with Path Tracing enabled.

We seem to have differentiating results, most especially when the particle is enabled.

• Have you tried doing a clean reinstallation of your drivers?
  
  
• Are there any specific settings that I may have missed that were enabled?

[wdcstudios3d]

Hi @Clov I’ll have to try reinstalling my drivers but the issue is present in your screenshot.
I copied part of the no particles render and moved it over to the particles enabled render and you can see the difference.

Also the difference is more noticeable with all of the particles enabled.

[wdcstudios3d]

Hi @Clov, Just thought I’d check back in and see if there are plans to fix this issue? As stated in the last post the issue is present in the screenshots you uploaded.

I reinstalled my drivers as suggested and the issue still persist.

I’ve uploaded some screen recording after reinstalling my drivers that better illustrate the issue.

Particles Off

effects_off.mp4

Particles On

effects_on.mp4

[Clov]

Hi @wdcstudios3d

I’ve just consulted within our team regarding this report, and for now, this is labeled as underexpectation.

• In real-world scenarios, fountain particles, mist, and water spray can partially obstruct and scatter incoming light before it reaches the water surface. As a result, the caustics projected underwater may be weakened or partially blocked in areas of higher particle density.

• Since the particles interact with the light path, it’s reasonable that they would influence the resulting caustics, similar to how spray from a fountain would affect light transmission in reality.

That said, we understand that achieving the right balance between physical accuracy and visual quality is important. We will continue improving the behavior of particles, shadows, and caustics in future updates to produce more realistic and predictable results across a wider range of scenarios.