Adding localized light fog can dramatically enhance your 3D renders, making scenes feel more atmospheric and realistic. In this post, based on a tutorial by Jonas Noell, you’ll learn how to easily create light fog in 3ds Max using V-Ray without impacting your scene’s performance.

Why You Should Use Localized Fog
Applying fog globally often darkens the entire scene, causing long render times and flat lighting. Instead, Jonas shows how to contain the fog around specific lights for a more professional and optimized effect.

Step-by-Step: How to Create Light Fog in 3ds Max

1. Build Simple Gizmos:
   Create spline shapes (rectangular at the top, circular at the bottom) that match your light sources. Attach them and convert into polygons. Add a Cap Holes modifier to seal the shape.
2. Apply V-Ray Environment Fog:
   In the Environment tab, add V-Ray Environment Fog. Instead of applying it globally, assign it only to the gizmo objects.
3. Tweak Transparency Settings:
   Increase the fog’s transparency (set color close to white, like RGB 254) to create a subtle, soft effect.
4. Enhance the Atmosphere:
   Adjust the Affect Atmosphere value on your lights to boost the interaction between fog and light beams.
5. Fine-Tune Light Directionality:
   Set a high directionality (around 0.8) to concentrate the fog effect towards the center and avoid visible gizmo edges.
6. Optional: Add Texture to Fog:
   Use a 3D noise texture as a density map to create natural-looking, irregular fog patterns. This extra step adds realism but may slightly increase render times.

You can check out more tutorials from Jonas Noell here.