Book Image

Learn Blender Simulations the Right Way

By : Stephen Pearson
2 (2)
Book Image

Learn Blender Simulations the Right Way

2 (2)
By: Stephen Pearson

Overview of this book

Blender is a free, open source 3D software that allows you to create stunning visual graphics, animation, VFX, and much more! This book is an in-depth guide to creating realistic and eye-catching simulations, understanding the various settings and options around their creation, and learning how to troubleshoot solutions to your own Blender problems. In addition, this book can also be used to simulate the behavior of certain physics effects, such as fire, fluid, soft bodies, and rigid bodies. You’ll learn how to use Mantaflow, an open source framework within Blender software, to create fire, smoke, and fluid simulations. As you progress, you’ll understand how to easily produce satisfying rigid and soft body simulations, along with cloth simulations. Finally, you’ll use Dynamic Paint, Blender’s modifier, and the physics system to create eye-catching animations. By the end of this Blender book, you’ll have created a number of animations on your own, such as a campfire, waterfalls, and explosions. You’ll also have gained a deeper understanding of all the simulation options in Blender, which you can use to create portfolio-ready animations.
Table of Contents (21 chapters)
1
Part 1: Using Mantaflow for Fire, Smoke, and Fluids
7
Part 2: Simulating Physics with Soft Bodies and Cloth
12
Part 3: Diving into Rigid Bodies
15
Part 4: Understanding Dynamic Paint in Blender

Understanding collision objects

We discussed collisions in Chapter 6, Getting Started with Soft Bodies, and it works basically the same way with cloth objects. You first need to select a mesh you want to add collision to, then head over to the Physics panel and select Collision. This will also add the Collision modifier in the Modifier panel.

Keep the modifier stack in mind when working with collisions. You need to make sure that the Collision modifier is at the very bottom of the stack; this way, Blender will accurately calculate the collision boundaries when simulating. The following example is of a cube with a Subdivision Surface modifier above and below the Collision modifier:

Figure 8.5 – Collision modifier stack

Figure 8.5 – Collision modifier stack

With the collision object selected, you will be able to see the settings in the Physics panel, like so:

Figure 8.6 – Collision settings

Figure 8.6 – Collision settings

Let’s go through each one and talk about them, as...