blackbody radiation/incandescense vs. other processes

[treddie]

As far as I can tell, Octane uses the theory of blackbody radiation and incandescence exclusively to model light building. But don't other methods exist in nature such as fluorescence and laser light which do not behave according to the same rules? A laser for example, contains only one single wavelength, with but a small band to either side (due to nothing being perfect). So in the case of a red laser, and looking down the beam, there would be a white center gradating out to red with no yellow or orange wavelengths on the way to the red, no? It seems that other lighting methods are required for Octane to take full advantage of the methods nature uses. Is this correct?

[gabrielefx]

As far as I can tell, Octane uses the theory of blackbody radiation and incandescence exclusively to model light building. But don't other methods exist in nature such as fluorescence and laser light which do not behave according to the same rules? A laser for example, contains only one single wavelength, with but a small band to either side (due to nothing being perfect). So in the case of a red laser, and looking down the beam, there would be a white center gradating out to red with no yellow or orange wavelengths on the way to the red, no? It seems that other lighting methods are required for Octane to take full advantage of the methods nature uses. Is this correct?

not all physics are simulated in Octane
For example the mathematic representation of the sun is wrong because doesn't pass through glass objects, impossible to simulate caustics in a pool, in the reality this happens.
Coherent light is not supported but if you want a red light you can use texture emission and choose a color as emitter.

[roeland]

For a laser light or a LED you can use a texture emission node and use a Gaussian for the texture/efficiency input.

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Roeland

[treddie]

For example the mathematic representation of the sun is wrong because doesn't pass through glass objects, impossible to simulate caustics in a pool, in the reality this happens.

Will this be fixed in a later version of Octane?

For a laser light or a LED you can use a texture emission node and use a Gaussian for the texture/efficiency input.

I was experimenting with Gaussian in my red backlit pushbutton material and it seemed to help quite a bit, but when I boosted the power, the oranges and yellows came back. I thought I could leave the emitter as RGB pure white and just let the pushbutton plastic have gaussian transmittance, thinking that regardless of what the light source was doing, the pushbutton plastic itself would decide what wavelengths got through to the camera side. So I set the gaussian width to very very small (which understandably cut the transmitted power down to almost nothing) then boosted the power of the emitter, but orange and yellow still got out of control and got through anyway.