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

Creating the material

Now that the simulation is done, we are ready to set up the material for our smoke and fire! This is where you want to look at reference images again. When you look at chemical explosions, you will notice that the smoke is very dark and dense. The fire has a very bright orange and yellow color, so let’s replicate that in the material!

Creating the smoke

Let’s start creating the smoke:

  1. To see what our explosion looks like, press Z and select Rendered View. The scene lighting is also a bit boring, so add a Sunlamp and rotate it so that it’s facing the front. In the Lamp Properties panel, set Strength to 15:
Figure 5.14 – Lamp Properties

Figure 5.14 – Lamp Properties

  1. Open a new window by moving your mouse to any edge of the viewport until it turns into a double arrow. Right-click and select Vertical Split. This will allow you to add a new window to Blender.
  2. Place the split in the middle of your screen and, in...