SOON TO BE RELEASED !
Introducing Rombo Sky
Welcome to Rombo Tools v1.5! This major update introduces our most powerful addition yet: Rombo Sky engine – a complete volumetric sky system designed for physically-based atmospheric rendering with unprecedented flexibility and control.
What sets this renderer apart is its unified approach to atmospheric effects and its extensibility. The modular architecture allows for continuous expansion of atmospheric phenomena beyond the core feature set. Additional effects such as solar turbulence, auroras, stars, sun pillars, and other atmospheric phenomena can be seamlessly integrated into the rendering pipeline. Rather than treating clouds, sky, and fog as separate elements, it handles them as an integrated system where each component affects the others, while allowing users to not only plug in custom volumetric definitions but also add entirely new atmospheric effects.
This flexibility, combined with physically accurate light transport, means the system can render anything from realistic atmospheric conditions to completely imagined volumetric environments. The system even supports both solar and lunar lighting modes, making it capable of rendering convincing scenes from bright daylight to moody night skies, with the ability to continuously expand its repertoire of atmospheric phenomena through its modular design.
The Rombo Sky renderer represents a significant leap forward in sky and atmospheric rendering technology, combining advanced volumetric techniques with a modular and artist-friendly design.
Key Features
The Rombo Sky combines cutting-edge graphics technology with artist-friendly design to create one of the most comprehensive atmospheric rendering systems available. Each component works in harmony to produce physically accurate results while maintaining creative flexibility. From the subtle Rayleigh scattering that creates our blue skies to the complex volumetric cloud formations that evolve throughout the day, every aspect of the system has been meticulously calibrated to balance realism with artistic control. The sophisticated ray marching engine at its core enables true volumetric rendering with proper light transport, creating effects like silver linings and god rays.
Physically-Based Volumetric Clouds
Create stunning cloud formations with true volumetric rendering and physically accurate light transport:
- Highly detailed single-scattering volumetric system
- Realistic self-shadowing and silver linings
- Customizable density, coverage, and detail
- Multiple cloud types via Cloud Stack architecture
- Stratus, cumulus, and swirl cloud generators included
- Extensible interface for custom cloud shaders
Advanced Atmospheric Scattering
Experience realistic skies through accurate atmospheric simulation:
- Combined Rayleigh-Mie scattering model
- Accurate time-of-day coloration
- Volumetric fog with true light interaction
- Seamless ground-sky integration
- Physically accurate light propagation
- Fine-tunable scattering parameters
Modular Architecture
Benefit from a flexible, component-based design that adapts to your needs:
- Sky Addins system for celestial objects and effects
- Sun Effects framework for solar phenomena
- Cloud Stack interface for custom cloud types
- Plug-and-play integration of components
- Extensive parameter controls for each module
- Designed for both realism and artistic expression
Comprehensive Sky Elements
Create complete sky environments with integrated celestial and atmospheric elements:
- Sun & Moon: Physically accurate celestial bodies with proper atmospheric interaction
- Stars & Galaxies: Realistic night sky elements with proper scale and positioning
- Aurora Borealis: Customizable northern lights effect
- Sun Effects: Horizon distortion, turbulence, bloom, and sun pillars
- Volumetric Shadows: True light-blocking from clouds with god rays
- Atmospheric Haze: Distance-based aerial perspective
Workflow Integration
We understand that even the most powerful tools are only valuable if they integrate smoothly into your existing workflow. That's why we've designed the Rombo Sky system with a dual focus on both intuitive usability and technical depth. Artists can quickly achieve stunning results through intelligently designed presets and intuitive parameter groupings, while technical directors can dive deep into the system's advanced controls for precise customization. The parameter ranges have been carefully calibrated based on real-world physical values, but with "soft limits" that allow for artistic exploration beyond strictly physical results. This approach ensures that Rombo Sky is immediately accessible to new users while providing the depth and flexibility that experienced artists demand for production environments.
Artist-Friendly Controls
Despite its technical sophistication, Rombo Sky is designed with artists in mind:
- Intuitive parameter grouping and naming
- Physically meaningful parameter ranges
- "Soft" parameter limits for comfortable working ranges
- Comprehensive presets for common sky types
- Independent control of technical and artistic parameters
- Real-time feedback for interactive adjustment
Technical Excellence
Behind the artist-friendly interface lies a powerful technical framework:
- Optimized ray marching algorithm
- Adaptive sampling for performance balance
- Multiple importance sampling for noise reduction
- Temporal coherence for animation
- Customizable quality/performance tradeoffs
- Production-ready output
Extensibility & Customization
The true power of the Rombo Sky system lies in its open architecture. Rather than treating atmospheric rendering as a black box, we've created multiple standardized interfaces that allow for virtually unlimited customization. Each interface—Cloud Stack, Sky Addins, and Sun Effects—follows consistent design principles that make extending the system straightforward and predictable. This means you can start with the included components and gradually build custom elements as your needs evolve. Whether you're integrating external simulation data, creating unique atmospheric phenomena for alien worlds, or developing specialized cloud formations for specific environments, the Rombo Sky architecture provides clean integration points without requiring modifications to the core system. This future-proof design ensures that your investment in learning and customizing the system will continue to pay dividends as your projects evolve.
The Rombo Sky system is designed from the ground up for expansion and customization. Its modular architecture provides multiple integration points for extending functionality:
Cloud Stack
The Cloud Stack interface allows for custom cloud shaders through three standardized connection points:
- Create custom volumetric cloud types
- Combine multiple cloud layers
- Integrate external data or simulations
- Full documentation of interface standards
Sky Addins
The Sky Addins system provides three RGB slots for celestial objects and atmospheric phenomena:
- Add custom celestial bodies
- Create unique atmospheric effects
- Special Moon integration in night mode
- Stack multiple effects for complex skies
Sun Effects
The Sun Effects framework offers direct control over solar appearance and phenomena:
- Modify sun shape and appearance
- Create specialized atmospheric interactions
- Stack multiple effects for complex solar phenomena
- Time-of-day specific effects
Getting Started
The Rombo Sky Renderer is immediately available as part of the Rombo Tools v1.5 update. Comprehensive documentation for all features is included, covering everything from basic setup to advanced customization.
To begin exploring the Rombo Sky system:
- Install the Rombo Tools v1.5 update
- Add the Rombo Sky node to your scene
- Explore the included scenes for various sky approaches
- Experiment with parameters to customize your sky, sun and clouds
- Add Sky Addins for celestial objects
- Incorporate Sun Effects for enhanced sun appearance
- Customize the Cloud Stack for unique cloud formations
The complete documentation includes detailed parameter guides, workflow recommendations and integration instructions for all system components.
Future Development
The Rombo Sky system is designed for continued expansion and enhancement.
Future updates will introduce:
- Additional cloud types and presets
- New atmospheric phenomena
- Enhanced performance optimizations
- Expanded integration capabilities
- New Sky Addins components
- Advanced weather simulation features
We welcome your feedback and suggestions as we continue to evolve the Rombo Sky system!
Demo Scenes
Rombo tools v1.5 comes with some nice scenes for testing and mastering main rombosky features and workflows.
We provide scenes for the following DCCs:
Maya
Houdini
Cinema4D
No demo scenes at the moment but full support for :
- Autodesk 3dsMax
- Foundry Katana