#Shaft of Light ?
Chris,
Issue #11 of 3D artist has an article on creating the illustion of a
flashlight beam that is probably close to what you want. I'll describe the
flashlight, once you get it, just change the shape for what you need (I hope).
Basically, start with a tube that gets wider at one end, that end will be
where the beam fades out. Create a texture map that is just a gradation from
%50 gray (for partial transparancy) at one end to white (for full
transparancy…, or is it black) at the other. Use this as your transparance
map. Put a spot light in the tube pointing in the same direction and Viola! a
beam of light. Change the shape of the tube, maybe add some noise to your
texture map (to simulate particles in the air) and hopefully you got what you
need.
Hope this Points you in the right direction,
Jim Jonah
P.S. If I'm way off base, you didn't hear it from me <G>.