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Photon Aquarium is a physically based rendering engine that is able to calculate Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) and Lux in a virtual aquarium.

Versions

Faq

I'm a light manufacturer and want my lamps in your application. How do I do that?

Easiest way is mailing me spectral distribution, wattage and lumen for each lamp. All three must be specified. High resolution spectrum is a plus.

Calculation never stops?

That's correct. The algorithm used is stochastic progressive photon mapping that refines the output forever. You will have a good PAR/Lux value within a couple of iterations in most cases.

If I render from the side the picture is black?

That is because you look at the back of the walls surrounding the aquarium where no light reaches. In the future I will make it possible to disable them. PAR/Lux will be correct since the square light probe will see the light sources.

How do I remove reflectors?

Right click on the lamp in the lamp table and select "Remove reflector".

When I create several lamps I only see one in the 3D-view?

That is because they are created in the exact same spot. It is important that you move them apart for the PAR/Lux values to be correct, otherwise photons escaping one of the lamps might hit the others. In the future I will probably randomize the initial locations a bit.

When I zoom in close to the aquarium the calculation/rendering seems to go much slower?

That is because each light bounce in glass+water will split into two separate rays - which adds up quickly to insane amounts of rays that needs to be traced if the whole view is mostly glass+water.

Feature requests

Tutorials

How to create a spectral distribution picture for the calculator:

Praise, feedback, feature requests, bug reports and spam can be mailed to Daniel defdac Larsson, or visit my blog Defblog.

Donation with feature request will put your request highest on my list: