Render guide
Browse Render controls by UI section
Lighting controls shade the scene. Material controls determine each surface's response. Use these in Entropy to make forms readable before increasing render quality. Entropy recalculates their result when it draws the frame.
Light the scene
Start with a lighting preset. The key is the main light. The fill softens contrast. The back light separates edges from the background. Each has an on/off control and an intensity multiplier. Ambient Color adds base light from all directions.
Enable composition lights to use After Effects Light layers. The top three non-ambient lights become key, fill, and back. Ambient lights contribute to ambient color. With no composition lights, Entropy falls back to the preset. Composer continues to show the preset rig.
Ambient occlusion darkens nearby creases and contact areas. Strength controls its effect, Radius sets its reach, and Bias helps prevent self-shadow speckles. Excessive Bias removes fine contact shading.
Environment and scene reflections
An environment map represents light around a surface. Select an environment per emitter. Use Environment turns its contribution on or off while keeping saved amounts. Environment Strength controls its amount on Geometry and Tracer surfaces.
Reflections controls reflected scene content, including particles and tracers. This is separate from environment lighting. The visible source body also has its own Environment and Reflections controls.
Use environment lighting when you want surface interest without the extra work of tracing scene reflections. Increase scene reflections when reflected objects are part of the intended look.
Reflection Blur softens reflections separately from Roughness. Reflection Quality reduces grain in blurred reflections at a higher rendering cost. Sharp reflections cost the same at every Reflection Quality setting.
Motion blur
Motion blur creates streaks during the camera exposure. Choose Comp Settings, On, or Off. Comp Settings also needs the layer's motion-blur switch in After Effects.
Shutter controls exposure length. A 180-degree shutter exposes for half a frame. Phase places the exposure window in time; -90 degrees centers a 180-degree exposure. More samples smooth stepping at a higher cost.
Depth of field
Depth of field keeps one depth sharp and blurs objects in front of or behind it. Focus selects the sharp depth. Focus Range controls the width of the sharp band. Aperture controls blur strength; zero keeps particles sharp.
Enable the composition-camera option to follow the active After Effects camera's focus and blur settings. Manual values apply when the option is off or no camera is available. Focus Range and Chromatic Aberration remain active either way.
Tune performance
Change one quality control, then compare the same frame in After Effects.
- Reduce particle creation rate or life if there are more particles than the image needs. Check child rates as well as parent rates.
- Reduce geometry detail or tracer Tube Sides when small particles do not need smooth silhouettes.
- Tune volumes at moderate Voxel Detail. Raise it after their motion and scale are correct.
- Add scene reflections, glass Dispersion, and more blur samples only when their contribution is visible.
- Check the result at the intended output resolution before your final render.
A hidden system still simulates. A larger volume Render Margin can prevent clipping but spreads detail across more space. Pre-run establishes the initial particle state but also requires simulation before the first visible frame.
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