Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 18
Simulations 1:
HyperVoxels and
Particles
Working with simulations is a lot like work-
ing with watercolors. The best-looking
work comes from careful, exacting planning
and then letting yourself be pleasantly sur-
prised by what the media does “all by
itself.” Sure, if you really fixate on things
you can get the mathematics that
shape
the
simulations to be exactly what you had in
mind, but it doesn't mean that it's going to
be as good as it can be. What I've found is
that the stuff that really leaps off the screen
(or page) is the stuff I've evaluated as to
whether or not it is
good
, not whether it is
what
I
had preconceptualized.
It is the
unknown
, the
random factor
, that
makes things
really interesting
! The same is
true with
life
and
art
as well as
3D
.
Note
Some of the best traditional matte and back-
ground painters in the industry will often
wad up plastic wrap, dip it in paint, and dab
it over an area of their painting. While it's
drying, they'll sit back and figure out how
they can work with the “randomness” gener-
ated by the crinkles of the plastic wrap. The
result is something that feels as richly ran-
dom as something that has been shaped by
“real life.”
HyperVoxels
HyperVoxel Explosion
As nifty as this 10-minute explosion might
seem at first, from an
industry
standpoint, it
is no great shakes. It is a
starting point
for
creating explosions (and it is only
one
approach — there are many others). Using
what you'll learn about the other function-
alities of HyperVoxels (particles and the
like), put everything together and create
some explosions that are the equal of what
you see on your favorite games, TV shows,
and films.
What the heck is a
voxel
? Why, it's a pixel
with
volume
.
HyperVoxels
are tools for ren-
dering gases, fluids, or solids based on
volumetrics
rather than on building things
out of polygons. What in the world are
volu-
metrics
? In plain English, it's the math/
science/study of how stuff moves within
and fills a certain space (aka volume).
These little doodads known as
HyperVoxels are pretty darn
powerful
and
versatile
. We're just going to hit the high
points, but those high points are enough to
keep you going for some time. The first
thing we're going to do is make the explo-
sion you used in the previous chapter.
