Fluids in Carrara and a plugin by Alberto is coming

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  • McGuiverMcGuiver Posts: 219

    When this plugin becomes available, I want to make an invisible wave & surf machine....for me, this will be an ultimate test. (add a surfer if you like!)

    Using this with DCG's terrain tools, the beach or rocks could be wetted, or the ocean shader could turn muddy when the waves crash in.

     

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  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,551

    Very cool examples, PhilW! So these are set up in Carrara, run through a sim software via plugin, then back to Carrara, or does the plugin allow the whole thing to work directly in Carrara?

    Sorry to ask silly questions. It really doesn't matter one way or the other. I could just be patient ;)

  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,145
    McGuiver said:

    When this plugin becomes available, I want to make an invisible wave & surf machine....for me, this will be an ultimate test. (add a surfer if you like!)

    Using this with DCG's terrain tools, the beach or rocks could be wetted, or the ocean shader could turn muddy when the waves crash in.

    Sounds ambitious!  Something to work towards definitely, I wish you luck.

     

    Very cool examples, PhilW! So these are set up in Carrara, run through a sim software via plugin, then back to Carrara, or does the plugin allow the whole thing to work directly in Carrara?

    Sorry to ask silly questions. It really doesn't matter one way or the other. I could just be patient ;)

    No problem fielding questions, I know that you guys are keen to get your hands on it so I am in a previleged position.

    The whole thing works in Carrara, but it might not work quite as you imagine. You set up the elements of the simulation in Carrara and then run the simulation - and nothing appears to have happened (well you get a percentage completed window). What has actually happened is that the plugin has generated the simulation data, and you then need to add another object with a modifier to visualise that data. So it is kind of a two step process, but all within Carrara and once you get used to it, it is very quick and easy to set up.

  • 0oseven0oseven Posts: 626
    edited December 2017

    Reading the last few posts from Philw and Alberto  this sounds so much more than I was expecting and something to match fluids happening in other 3d packages. -   I can only say AWSOME. We are indeed lucky to have you  guys !! I wouldn't be surprised if those at DS start clamouring for it ? 

    One thing - how will shaders be applied to liquids? Will options currently available apply, such as drag from browser tray onto [ water ] object or through Shader Room like with 'Natural Functions' ?

     

    Post edited by 0oseven on
  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,551
    PhilW said:
    McGuiver said:

    When this plugin becomes available, I want to make an invisible wave & surf machine....for me, this will be an ultimate test. (add a surfer if you like!)

    Using this with DCG's terrain tools, the beach or rocks could be wetted, or the ocean shader could turn muddy when the waves crash in.

     

    Very cool examples, PhilW! So these are set up in Carrara, run through a sim software via plugin, then back to Carrara, or does the plugin allow the whole thing to work directly in Carrara?

    Sorry to ask silly questions. It really doesn't matter one way or the other. I could just be patient ;)

    No problem fielding questions, I know that you guys are keen to get your hands on it so I am in a previleged position.

    The whole thing works in Carrara, but it might not work quite as you imagine. You set up the elements of the simulation in Carrara and then run the simulation - and nothing appears to have happened (well you get a percentage completed window). What has actually happened is that the plugin has generated the simulation data, and you then need to add another object with a modifier to visualise that data. So it is kind of a two step process, but all within Carrara and once you get used to it, it is very quick and easy to set up.

    That's beautiful!

    0oseven, from what PhilW says in the quote above, I think that we can use any shader we want, as the fluid(s) will be a Carrara object. It looks to me like PhilW is using a Water shader in his examples.

    I'm envisioning, like most things in Carrara, a shader drop-down and we just use any shader in our scene, like giraffe fur, for example ;)

  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,145

    Yes you can apply any shader you like - and my examples have been rendered in a mix of Carrara's native renderer and Octane, so it works with both.

  • ImagoImago Posts: 5,152

    The last drop of water is wonderful!
    Any chance to see how the "surface forces" like repulsion and attraction are? If it isn't clear enough yet, I'm truly interested in those two function mainly! cheeky
    Expecially on chars! I want to make a wonderful water mage that swirls the fluids around her hands and then splashes it on her enemies, soaking them! laugh

  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,145

    A series of short tests showing the effects of increasing the Surface Force on the wall - attraction only at this stage, although replusion is also possible.  Just for Imago! (but I'll let the rest of you see it as well).

  • DiomedeDiomede Posts: 15,168

    These test videos are very impressive.  Congratulations, Alberto!  And thank you Phil for teasing us. Very exciting.  A buddy of mine has been asking me to do a Sharknado parody with sharks in a tsunami.  This could be just the tool.

  • I just want to render Gianni having a splash in the bath with his rubber ducky

  • JonstarkJonstark Posts: 2,738
    PhilW said:

    A series of short tests showing the effects of increasing the Surface Force on the wall - attraction only at this stage, although replusion is also possible.  Just for Imago! (but I'll let the rest of you see it as well).

    That's awesome  :)

  • ImagoImago Posts: 5,152
    edited December 2017
    PhilW said:

    A series of short tests showing the effects of increasing the Surface Force on the wall - attraction only at this stage, although replusion is also possible.  Just for Imago! (but I'll let the rest of you see it as well).

    Looks absolutely perfect to me! I waited so long for this!
    The end of the year is approaching... I hope to get this wonderful gift for christmas! laugh

    Post edited by Imago on
  • 0oseven0oseven Posts: 626
    edited December 2017
    PhilW said:

    Yes you can apply any shader you like - and my examples have been rendered in a mix of Carrara's native renderer and Octane, so it works with both.

                 That's really great ! Worried we might have had to go outside Carrara for texturing so this means  so we can do things like change shaders over time for some interesting effects.  

    Is there any news about ' floating objects ' . I think Alberto said he was looking at that but I dont recall any posts to confirm it will be a feature ?

    Post edited by 0oseven on
  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,145

    I think you would have to do the floating objects manually. The simulation works that objects have an influence on the fluid, but not in the reverse direction. You also couldn't use soemthing like Pin To as the topology of the fluid mesh will change from frame to frame. It shouldn't be difficult to get a reasonable floating / bobbing around motion once you have done the fluid sim.  Unless you are looking at having hunderds of objects floating of course!

  • DartanbeckDartanbeck Posts: 21,551

    ...and I'm sure that BrianOrca's cool plugin could help. Perhaps use some fluid sim along with his ocean?

  • DUDUDUDU Posts: 1,945
    edited December 2017

    @Phil: What is the type of the fluid, particles metaballs or meshes?

    If it's a mesh, is it an .obj sequence?

    Post edited by DUDU on
  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,145

    The meshes are written to the bakefiles / subdirectory as a sequence of .PLY files which are then read by another thing that you put in your scene. And they are triangluar meshes that are generated.

  • I understand why Alberto is using a modifier. As the number of facets is changing every frame, it's by far the easiest way of doing it, short of creating a completely new kind of primitive.
  • Phil,

    I have watched this thread with interest.  Thanks for taking the time away from your work to keep us informed and making the clips. It can't be easy figuring out what rope opens which door. 

     In one of your earlier clips you showed a primitive toy boat moving through the water making a bow wave, a stern wave and the displacement water bubbling up.  It looks wonderful for the scale used. My question is; can the water mesh be scaled down so as to simulate a larger vessel?   Also, are you planning  on some tutorials on this plugin?

     
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  • ImagoImago Posts: 5,152
    edited December 2017
    DUDU said:

    @Phil: What is the type of the fluid, particles metaballs or meshes?

    If it's a mesh, is it an .obj sequence?

    This brings me another question: The simulated fluid can be exported as OBJ?

    Post edited by Imago on
  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,145

    Alberto has provided quite a good document which explains everything - I will admit I was a bit confused when I first read it, but then I followed setting up a basic scene and when I re-read it, it made a lot more sense and things fell into place.

    You have control over the size of the fluid domain where the simulation takes place and also the scale of the grid - but keep in mind that the larger the domain and/or the smaller the grid scale, the more calculation time and resources will be used. I haven't pushed this too far, but already I have had calcualtion times up to an hour. It would be easy to set them to levels that would take days to calculate (as pointed out earlier, halving the grid scale will increase the calculation time 8 fold!).

    Yes, I am planning to do a "Getting Started" tutorial video, and maybe some others but certainly one.

    I haven't yet tried exporting a mesh but it should be possible.

  • TangoAlphaTangoAlpha Posts: 4,584
    Imago said:
    DUDU said:

    @Phil: What is the type of the fluid, particles metaballs or meshes?

    If it's a mesh, is it an .obj sequence?

    This brings me another question: The simulated fluid can be exported as OBJ?

     

    That would cdertainly be my interest . . .

  • Thanks Phil:

    That's what I wanted to know.  It sounds better all the time.  I will be buying both the plugin and your tutorial.

     
  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,145

    I don't want to pre-empt Alberto but I wasn't thinking of charging for my tutorial, it will just be something I will out on my YouTube channel for free.

    And I have now tested OBJ export and it does indeed work - it can produce some pretty weighty meshes though! You can also export the main fluid mesh and the foam/bubbles/spray particles separately if required.

  • 0oseven0oseven Posts: 626

    ...and I'm sure that BrianOrca's cool plugin could help. Perhaps use some fluid sim along with his ocean?

     Orca Ocean can float objects by  pinning to mesh [which could be hidden for rendering] .

    here is something done with Orca Ocean  - not brilliant, just a test  but clearly shows movement of ship over waves so with some fluid / foam effect added could look cool . Orca Ocean should react to ships lateral movement too [ rolling ] . Looking forward to seeing what i come up with in the  ship on ocean catagory surprise

     https://vimeo.com/40858594

  • AlbertoAlberto Posts: 1,436
    PhilW said:

    A series of short tests showing the effects of increasing the Surface Force on the wall - attraction only at this stage, although replusion is also possible.  Just for Imago! (but I'll let the rest of you see it as well).

    Beautiful video, Phil !

     

    0oseven said:

    Is there any news about ' floating objects ' . I think Alberto said he was looking at that but I dont recall any posts to confirm it will be a feature ?

    As Phil said, for the simulator itself the objects are immovable. However, you can use the Carrara physics engine after the simulation. Moreover, you can optionally intercalate the fluid simulation with the Carrara physics engine simulation (e.g. turn on the physics engine every 20 frames of fluid simulation). This feature is rather slow, but sometimes can be useful.

     

    Philemo said:
    I understand why Alberto is using a modifier. As the number of facets is changing every frame, it's by far the easiest way of doing it, short of creating a completely new kind of primitive.

    You're right !

     

    PhilW said:

    I don't want to pre-empt Alberto but I wasn't thinking of charging for my tutorial, it will just be something I will out on my YouTube channel for free.

    Go ahead, Phil. And thank you for your help !

    And, like I said, the plugin will be free too.

    ...and I'm sure that BrianOrca's cool plugin could help. Perhaps use some fluid sim along with his ocean?

    Unfortunaly, the simulator only works with closed surface, and the oceans are open surfaces. You'd have to convert to vertex modeler and close the surface, but the dynamical properties of the OrcaOcean will be lost.

  • ImagoImago Posts: 5,152
    PhilW said:

    I don't want to pre-empt Alberto but I wasn't thinking of charging for my tutorial, it will just be something I will out on my YouTube channel for free.

    And I have now tested OBJ export and it does indeed work - it can produce some pretty weighty meshes though! You can also export the main fluid mesh and the foam/bubbles/spray particles separately if required.

    Nice to heat that, Phil! I'm sure your tutorial will be great!

    And great news that we can export simulations as OBJs, this open even more doors!

  • Alberto said:
     
    0oseven said:

    Is there any news about ' floating objects ' . I think Alberto said he was looking at that but I dont recall any posts to confirm it will be a feature ?

    As Phil said, for the simulator itself the objects are immovable. However, you can use the Carrara physics engine after the simulation. Moreover, you can optionally intercalate the fluid simulation with the Carrara physics engine simulation (e.g. turn on the physics engine every 20 frames of fluid simulation). This feature is rather slow, but sometimes can be useful.

     

    A biased version (not physically exact but pleasing to the eye) could be done easily with a modifier attached to the floating object (at least for the floating part, altitude and banking). Following the flow of fluid seems difficult, to say the least, and would have to be animated manually. So, if an object floating in place is of any help, I can program this plugin. It will be my contribution to the fluid simulation.

  • PhilWPhilW Posts: 5,145

    I'm sure that would be useful - thanks Philemo!

  • McGuiverMcGuiver Posts: 219

    In the intrest of saving Philemo some work on a plugin, it seems Sparrowhawkes Pin Modifier is able to make an object float on a dynamic mesh.....maybe it would work on the fluid?

    http://www.sparrowhawke3d.com/PinModifier.html

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