16 - Stage Fountain
Module: SuperCore ｜ Applies to: SuperStage 26H2.6 and later Read first: 03 - DMX Fixture Basics
1. Overview
SuperFountain is the stage fountain system added in 26H2.6. It is controlled over DMX and shares the same optics as the lighting.
It consists of two independent objects:
| Object | Nature | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Super Fountain | DMX device (14 channels) | Moving fountain; nozzles are components on it, with an underwater light |
| Super Water Pool | Scenic object | Water surface and ripples |
Neither depends on the other. If you only want a pool, place a pool — there is no need to place a fountain first. Conversely, the fountain device does not carry a water surface of its own: with no pool object in the scene, no water surface is rendered.
Both are in the SuperVFX category of the asset browser.
2. Placing and Basic Setup
- Drag Super Fountain from the asset browser into the scene;
- If you want a water surface, place a Super Water Pool as well and adjust its position and size;
- Set Universe, Start Address and ControlMode as for any DMX fixture, reserving 14 channels;
- To preview by hand in the Details panel, set
ControlModetoPropertyand use the Manual fields.
3. DMX Channels (14CH)
| Channel | Function | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | Pan | 16-bit |
| 3–4 | Tilt | 16-bit |
| 5 | Pan / Tilt speed | The slowest step is 8% of full speed, the same convention as fixtures |
| 6 | Jet height | |
| 7 | Spread angle | Mapped to 0–20° |
| 8 | Underwater light intensity | |
| 9 | Underwater light strobe | 0–15 constant; 16–255 mapped linearly to 1–25 Hz |
| 10 | Underwater light red | |
| 11 | Underwater light green | |
| 12 | Underwater light blue | |
| 13 | Underwater light white | |
| 14 | Underwater light zoom | Mapped to a 10–60° outer angle |
The physical limit of the spread angle is 45°, but a fountain past 20° is already mist, so the DMX travel only goes to 20°.
4. Fountain Parameters
4.1 Axes
| Parameter | Default | Range | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Axis Max Speed | 60 | 0–720 deg/s | Maximum angular speed. DMX gives a target; the actual angle approaches it under this limit |
| Manual Pan | 0.5 | 0–1 | Manual pan in property mode |
| Manual Tilt | 0.5 | 0–1 | Manual tilt in property mode |
| Manual PT Speed | 0.0 | 0–1 | Manual speed in property mode |
| Manual Strobe | 0.0 | 0–25 Hz | Manual strobe in property mode |
4.2 Nozzle
Nozzle parameters are calibrated against manufacturer samples; exit velocity is derived from pressure.
| Parameter | Default | Range | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nozzle Diameter | 20 mm | 1–200 | Nozzle bore |
| Pump Pressure | 0.2 MPa | 0.01–2.0 | Pump pressure. 0.2 MPa gives about 20 m/s exit velocity |
| Discharge Coeff | 0.95 | 0.5–1.0 | Discharge coefficient |
| Velocity Coeff | 0.97 | 0.5–1.0 | Velocity coefficient |
| Max Coherent Length | 12 m | 0.5–40 | Maximum coherent jet length; breakup starts past it |
| Dispersion | 4.5° | 0–45 | Dispersion half-angle |
| Lifetime | 6 s | 0.2–30 | Droplet lifetime |
| Flow | 1.0 | 0–1 | Flow |
| Parcel Volume | 1.0 cm³ | 0.02–100 | Parcel volume |
4.3 Underwater Light
| Parameter | Default | Range | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dimmer | 1.0 | 0–1 | Intensity |
| Light Color | White | — | Colour |
| Light Cone | 40° | 1–89 | Outer angle |
| Light Range | 25 m | 0.5–200 | Throw distance |
| Intensity | 1.0 | — | Intensity multiplier |
The underwater light is in candela, the same convention as the projectors.
4.4 Mist
| Parameter | Default | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Mist Amount | 0.02 | 0–0.3 |
| Mist Density | 0.02 | 0–1 |
| Mist Rise Fraction | 0.33 | 0–2 |
| Mist Entrain Time | 1.0 s | 0.05–10 |
| Mist Lifetime | 4.0 s | 0.1–30 |
| Mist Radius Start | 5 cm | 0.5–200 |
| Mist Radius End | 90 cm | 1–1000 |
| Mist Turbulence | 70 | 0–500 |
| Mist Decay | 5.0 | 0–12 |
Scattering from stage lights on the water mist uses the same phase function as the beams.
5. Water Pool Parameters
| Parameter | Default | Range | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Surface Size | 3000×3000 cm | 50–100000 | Water surface size |
| Water Depth | 60 cm | 1–2000 | Depth; affects refraction and colour |
| Refract Strength | 40 | 0–200 | Refraction strength |
| Reflect Strength | 1.0 | 0–1 | Reflection strength |
| Ripple Normal Scale | 0.15 | 0–2 | Ripple normal strength |
| Base Chop | 0.15 | 0–1 | Base chop |
| Max Wave Height | 8 cm | 0.1–100 | Maximum wave height |
| Foam Threshold | 0.35 | 0–2 | Foam threshold |
| Foam Amount | 0.8 | 0–1 | Foam amount |
| Sim Resolution | 512 | 64–2048 | Ripple height field resolution |
6. Render Layers
The fountain image is built from five layers:
| Layer | Content |
|---|---|
| Coherent jet | Analytic ballistics plus breakup length |
| Breakup droplets | GPU particles |
| Aerated white water | The white section after the jet breaks up |
| Pool ripples | Height field |
| Water surface | Analytic intersection; no mesh generated |
The motion blur shutter follows frame duration by default, so a change in frame rate does not smear droplets into continuous streaks.
All parameters are adjustable from both the Details panel and console variables.
7. Common Questions
No water surface
Is there a Super Water Pool in the scene? The fountain device does not carry a water surface of its own.
The jet is too low / too high
Start with Pump Pressure and Nozzle Diameter — those two set the exit velocity. The DMX jet height channel maps on top of that physical basis.
The underwater light has no colour
Confirm DMX channels 10–13 carry values and that ControlMode is DMX. In property mode the Manual fields cover only axes and strobe; colour needs DMX or the Light Color nozzle parameter.
Frame rate drops noticeably
Sim Resolution (the ripple height field) and the mist parameters are the main costs. Try dropping Sim Resolution to 256 first.
8. Tuning and Diagnostic Switches
The fountain has more than fifty console variables; nearly all of them are internal calibration values and should be left alone. The ones below are the ones you would actually reach for. They take effect at runtime.
8.1 Performance
| Variable | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
r.SuperFountain | 1 | Fountain master switch. 0 = off, 1 = on |
r.SuperFountain.HalfRes | 0 | Half-resolution droplet accumulation. 1 = half res. Water is a full-screen bandwidth hog, so this is the first switch to reach for when frame rate drops |
r.SuperFountain.MaxDrawDistance | 30000 | Upper bound on droplet draw distance (cm, 0 = unlimited) |
r.SuperFountain.MaxParticles | 2000000 | Particle pool capacity. Each parcel is 32 bytes and double-buffered, so 2 million is about 128 MB of VRAM. Changing it rebuilds the buffers |
r.SuperFountain.MaxLights | 256 | Maximum cone lights fed into fountain lighting per frame (underwater plus external). Beyond that, lights are dropped in registration order with a warning. Lights out of range cost only a 16-byte read, so this number can be larger than instinct suggests |
8.2 Look
| Variable | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
r.SuperFountain.Ambient | 0.3 | Ambient multiplier, applied to the world sky light intensity |
r.SuperFountain.MaxRadiance | 6.0 | Hue-preserving radiance ceiling (0 = unlimited) |
r.SuperFountain.ExtinctionScale | 1.0 | Optical thickness calibration — this is the occlusion strength knob |
8.3 Diagnostics
| Variable | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
r.SuperFountain.Freeze | 0 | Freezes the simulation but keeps drawing. 1 = frozen, for inspecting one frame's particle distribution |
r.SuperFountain.WaterDebug | 0 | Water surface debug. 1 = height field heat map (blue = dip / red = bump / flat grey = the impact did not register) |
9. Safety Boundary
The fountain is a visual simulation asset. It provides no pump control, electrical control, water treatment, shock protection or regulatory-approval basis for a real fountain. Real water features must be executed by licensed professionals under local regulations.