Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
the
domain
, and its area is defined by the Domain object. Without defining a Domain object, it is not possible
to initiate a fluid simulation.
One way to introduce fluid to the domain is via the Fluid object. This is a mesh positioned inside the domain
that defines the volume of the fluid for the simulation. As you'll see later in the chapter, the name of this com-
ponent is somewhat misleading. The properties of the fluid itself, and the mesh representing the simulated fluid
in motion, are all dealt with by the Domain object. For example, when you want to assign a material or activate
aSubsurfmodifieronyourfluid,youwilldothisontheDomainobjectmesh.TheFluidobjectisusedtodefine
the volume and to set some initial velocity parameters.
For your first fluid simulation, the Domain will be already set up, if you're using a default Blender installa-
tion.Thefamiliardefaultcubewilldofine.Infact,foryourDomainobject,youcanalwaysusethedefaultcube
and simply scale it to suit your needs. The Domain object never needs any special geometry, and although you
can use another shape such as a sphere, a monkey, or even a plane for your domain, the domain will always be
calculated as a 3D rectangular box.
Because the domain of your fluid simulation is going to be a 3D rectangle, you generally have an ideal do-
main mesh provided automatically in the form of Blender's trusty default cube. To get started on fluids now,
I'll present a few examples that use the default cube entirely unmodified as the domain. Go ahead and fire up
a session of Blender, and then open a Front view by pressing 1 on the number pad. Right now, you should be
looking at your cube in Orthogonal view mode. Press the Z key to enter Wireframe mode, as in
Figure 7-1
.
