Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
The Bottom Line
Use the Blender fluid simulator.
This chapter discussed Domain, Fluid, Inflow, Outflow, Particle, and
Obstacle objects. In the Fluid drop-down, there is one more object type, called Control. This object enables
you to use mesh objects to attract or repel fluid for special effects.
Master It
Experiment with the Control object type, using an animated Attraction Force Strength value.
Create a fluid simulation in which fluid rises from a bath to create a spherical shape hovering above the
surfaceofthebathandthensplashesbackdownfromthesphereintothesurfaceitoriginallycamefrom.
Get the shot.
When fluid interacts with obstacles, the fluid resolution becomes especially important. As you
saw in the bottle example, obstacles must always be bigger than the size of fluid voxels. Other issues can
arise when fluids conform to the shapes of their containers, requiring high-resolution simulations to address
the problem.
Master It
Set up a fluid simulation to flow from an Inflow to an Outflow object, in the process moving
through a clear, curved glass pipe. Make sure that the pipe is fully modeled, with inside and outside sur-
faces,andthatithasenoughrealgeometrytomakethefluidconformtoitsactualshape.(Fluidmodifiers
cannot be placed below Subsurf modifiers in the stack, so fluid can only interact with the real geometry
ofobstacles.)Whatissuesarise?Wheredoyouseeproblemsthatrequirehigherfluidresolutiontosolve
them?
Simulate smoke and fire.
You can have a great deal of control over the behavior of a smoke simulation by
manually adjusting the settings of the particle system the simulation is based on.
Master It
Using what you've learned in this chapter combined with what you learned about particles in
Chapter 6, set up a convincing explosion with smoke and flame. For an extra challenge, use a second
object with a second particle system to create a double blast, with the two explosions offset in time by a
few frames.
