Version: 0.5
Author: Damian Strom
Blender Version: 4.3.0 or newer
Location: View3D > Sidebar > MagicFog

Overview

MagicFog enables artists to create atmospheric fog effects in Blender scenes with three distinct methods: Volumetric (3D fog with light scattering), Material-Based (2D plane fog), and Particle-Based (stylized particle fog). It includes options for density, color, noise, animation, and more, with real-time updates and preset configurations.

Note: This addon is in early development. Some features, particularly particle-based fog and the "Transform Object to Fog" functionality, are experimental and may exhibit unstable behavior.

Installation

1. Download the MagicFog addon ZIP file.
2. In Blender, go to Edit > Preferences > Add-ons.
3. Click Install, select the ZIP file, and click Install Add-on.
4. Enable the addon by checking the box next to "MagicFog".
5. The MagicFog panel will appear in the 3D Viewport sidebar under the "MagicFog" tab.

Main Panel

The MagicFog panel is the primary interface for creating and managing fog.

Fog Type

• Volumetric: 3D fog with realistic light scattering. Best for scene-filling fog.
• Material-Based: 2D plane fog using shaders. Ideal for ground fog or faster rendering.
• Particle-Based (Warning- Particle system is in Development, Use at your own risk): Particle-driven fog for stylized effects. Experimental.

Controls

• Realtime: Toggle to enable automatic updates when adjusting settings. May slow performance with complex setups.
• Create Fog: Generates a new fog object based on the selected fog type.
• Transform to Fog: Converts a selected object into fog (experimental).
• Refresh: Updates an existing fog object with current settings (appears if fog exists).
• Delete Fog: Removes the current fog object from the scene (appears if fog exists).

Fog Settings Panel

Customize the core properties of your fog.

• Density: Controls fog thickness (0.0–1.0).
• Color: Sets the fog’s color using an RGB picker.

Texture Settings

• Use Custom Texture: Toggle to use an image texture instead of procedural noise.
  • Texture: Select an image for the fog pattern (visible if enabled).
  • Texture Scale: Adjusts the texture’s scale (0.01–10.0).
• Noise Scale: Sets the scale of procedural noise (0.01–5.0, visible if no custom texture).
• Detail: Defines noise detail level (0–16, visible if no custom texture).
• Distortion: Adds distortion to the noise pattern (0.0–10.0, visible if no custom texture).

Advanced Settings Panel

Fine-tune fog behavior and animation. This panel is collapsed by default.

Animation

• Enable Animation: Toggle to animate the fog.
• Animation Type: Choose the animation style:
  • Gentle Drift: Slow linear motion.
  • Swirling: Circular motion.
  • Turbulent: Random chaotic motion.
  • Rising: Upward movement.
  • Pulsating: In-and-out pulsing (not fully implemented).
  • Whirlpool: Downward spiral (not fully implemented).
  • Stormy: Storm-like chaos (not fully implemented).
  • Custom: User-defined settings.
• Speed Multiplier: Adjusts animation speed (0.0–100.0).
• Boost: Multiplies speed for extreme effects (1.0–10.0, visible if Speed > 10.0).

Custom Animation (Visible if Animation Type is "Custom")

• Direction: Sets the main movement direction:
  • Up/Down/Left/Right/Forward/Backward: Predefined directions.
  • Custom: Use a custom vector.
• Custom Direction: Defines a direction vector (-1.0–1.0 per axis, visible if Direction is "Custom").
• Force Strength: Controls directional force intensity (0.0–10.0).
• Direction Speed: Sets movement speed along the direction (0.0–100.0).
• X/Y/Z Speed: Fine-tunes speed per axis (-2.0–2.0).
• Amplitude: Strength of the animation effect (0.0–5.0).
• Frequency: Animation cycle frequency (0.01–2.0).
• Phase: Starting point of the animation cycle (0.0–2.0).
• Turbulence: Adds randomness to motion (0.0–1.0).

Collision Settings

• Enable Collision: Allows fog to interact with objects (currently particle fog only).
• Friction: Resistance when colliding (0.0–1.0).
• Damping: Reduction in movement post-collision (0.0–1.0).
• Response: Strength of collision reaction (0.0–1.0).
• Collision Objects: List of objects fog interacts with.
  • Add: Adds the selected object to the collision list.
  • Remove: Removes the active object from the list.

Height Falloff

• Height Falloff: Controls how fog dissipates with height (0.0–1.0).

(Warning- Particle system is in Development, Use at your own risk)

Emitter Settings

• Use Emitter: Emits fog from an object (particle fog only).
• Emitter Object: Select the object to emit fog from.
• Emission Rate: Speed of fog emission (0.1–10.0).
• Emission Radius: Size of the emission area (0.1–10.0).
• Emission Type: How particles emit:
  • Continuous: Steady emission.
  • Emit Once: Single burst.
  • Recurring: Periodic bursts.
• Emission Speed: Particle emission velocity (0.1–10.0).
• Emission Interval: Time between bursts in frames (1.0–100.0, visible if Recurring).

Weather Effects (Particle/Fog Only)

• Weather Type: Adds weather effects:
  • None: No effect.
  • Light Rain/Heavy Rain: Rainfall simulation.
  • Snow/Blizzard: Snowfall effects.
  • Hail: Hailstone simulation.
• Weather Intensity: Strength of the weather effect (0.1–1.0).

Type-Specific Settings

Volumetric Settings

• No additional settings currently (optimized for fast workflows).

Material Settings

• Opacity: Controls transparency of material fog (0.0–1.0).

Particle Settings

• Particle Size: Size of fog particles (0.01–2.0).
• Particle Count: Base number of particles (1000–100000).
• Particle Lifetime: Particle duration in frames (10–1000).
• Particle Color: Color of particles (RGB).
• Particle Appearance:
  • Basic Dots: Simple dots.
  • Custom Object: Uses a selected object as particles.
  • Textured: Uses an image texture.
• Custom Particle: Object for custom particles (visible if Custom Object).
• Particle Texture: Image for textured particles (visible if Textured).

Presets Panel

Apply predefined fog and animation settings. Collapsed by default.

Fog Presets

• Light Mist: Subtle morning mist (low density, light gray).
• Heavy Fog: Thick fog (high density, neutral color).
• Storm Clouds: Dark, stormy fog (dense, dark blue-gray).
• Morning Rays: Light fog with warm tones (low density, yellowish).

Animation Presets

• Gentle Drift: Slow linear motion.
• Swirling Fog: Circular swirling effect.
• Turbulent Fog: Chaotic random motion.
• Rising Fog: Upward movement.

Performance Settings Panel

Optimize fog for viewport or rendering. Collapsed by default.

Quality Presets

• Low: Reduces noise detail for speed.
• Medium: Balanced quality and performance.
• High: Maximum detail, slower performance.

Optimization

• Optimize for Viewport: Reduces quality for faster viewport display.
• Optimize for Render: Restores full quality for rendering.

Debug Tools Panel

Tools for troubleshooting. Collapsed by default.

• Debug Controls: Set logging level:
  • Off: No logging.
  • Basic: Essential logs.
  • Verbose: Detailed logs (written to magicfog_log.txt in the addons folder).
• Test Environment: Checks system compatibility.
• Fog Validation: Validates the current fog setup.
• Fix Common Issues: Attempts to resolve common problems.
• Dump Node Tree: Logs the fog material’s node structure.

Usage Tips

• Volumetric Fog: Use for large-scale scenes; adjust density carefully to avoid render slowdowns.
• Material Fog: Best for ground-level effects; increase opacity for thicker fog.
• Experimental - Particle/Fog: Ideal for stylized or dynamic effects; keep particle count low for performance.
• Realtime Updates: Enable for quick previews, disable for complex scenes to avoid lag.
• Animation: Test with low speeds first; use "Custom" for precise control.
• Collision: Add objects via the Collision Settings list (particle fog only).
• Experimental - Emitters: Position above the scene for weather effects like rain or snow.

Known Issues

• Height Falloff: Does not work correctly with objects transformed into fog.
• Particle System: Experimental; may not update reliably in real-time or with complex settings.
• Transform Object to Fog: Experimental; results may vary.

Support

For bugs, feature requests, or questions, please let me know or check the addon’s repository (if available). Debug logs (magicfog_log.txt) can assist in troubleshooting.