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

Introduction to soft body simulations

As we mentioned at the start of this chapter, soft bodies are used to deform objects and make them look soft. The simulation calculates gravity, force fields, and the strength of the interior force connecting the vertices, and applies deformations accordingly. This gives a realistic look as if the object were filled with something. Think of a water balloon, for example.

To add a soft body simulation to an object, you need to head over to the Physics panel and select Soft Body, as illustrated in the following screenshot:

Figure 6.1 – Creating a soft body simulation

Figure 6.1 – Creating a soft body simulation

Unlike a Mantaflow simulation, you can use any object with control points or vertices for a soft body simulation. This includes meshes, curves, surfaces, and lattices. The number of vertices on the object also correlates to how the simulation will look. If you try to simulate a cube—for example—with only eight vertices, that’...