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 simulation

The first thing to do is to download the Obstacle Course Setup.blend file. This includes a basic obstacle course scene, lighting, and materials already in place. Feel free to change or add any more obstacles you would like the sphere to go through!

Once you have downloaded the file, open it up and get familiar with the scene and all the objects in it. There are a total of 17 objects, and each of them is named so it’s easy to follow along. You can view the name of each object by looking at the Outliner in the top-right corner. Be sure to look at the Outliner throughout the chapter so you know what objects to select and work on.

Figure 7.1 – Outliner

Figure 7.1 – Outliner

Once you are familiar with the scene and all the objects in it, let’s start working on creating the simulation! Let’s start at the very top and work our way down the objects. Be sure to constantly restart and play the simulation while we are working on it...