I am looking forward to the new C5, like everyone else. I'll wait until I can afford upgrade, and all Mac plugs work. But, here is a quick render of an old model in new waters. I want light passing through background, giving forground a filtered, light beam look. Any suggestions? The rocks are tips of Anything Grows, works so well! R

I have a question about this render. I want to have light beams passing through the "water". The light source is behind the rainbow, but how do I get the light to show as light cones?

In the properties of the light, if the light is a spot light, under the Effects tab is a setting for 'Light Cone' Click on the 'Edit' button, play with the settings to your liking, and render. :D There is a small render window in the dialog box for Light Cone that allows for making adjustments. Since Light cone is a post-render effect, the image just needs to be rendered once, and then the settings can be played with showing quick changes as needed. Have fun!

Bluetone is right. You might need a blotchy gel on your light and then enable 3d shadows in the lights cone properties. (I THINK this will give the effect you want) This will take a lot of playing!

I am playing with the suggestions, thank you both. Still not getting the shadows I want. The background light is strong. Need feedback. I plan on adjusting the trout to make it more cartoonish, but not too funny. Thanks.

I was changing the properties of the wrong light, now I'm getting closer to what I want. Again, thanks for the help. R

Looks better. Since most of the lighting should be coming from above.

I am working on above the surface. The rocks need work, and so far I can't pan around much... there is nothing behind the bank : ) Needs some old logs or tree roots. Any ideas?