| On this page |
|
Overview ¶
This page describes…
-
How to get information into a simulation, for example grabbing geometry from a geometry network to use as an RBD object.
-
How to cache simulation information to avoid recalculating the simulation.
-
How to get information out of a simulation, for example taking the volume data from a smoke simulation into a geometry network so you can shade and render it.
A note on the dynamics shelf tools ¶
When you use the shelf tools to create simulation objects from existing Geometry container objects, Houdini does some interesting magic where it sets up an import from the Geometry container into a dynamics node (such as an RBD Object), and a corresponding DOP Import surface node inside the container to import the dynamics object’s transforms back onto the geometry.
So, in the case of RBDs, the Geometry container provides the shape of the object to the simulation, and the simulation then drives the transforms of the geometry.
This lets you quickly set up a Geometry object, make it a simulated object, and have the simulation drive the motion of the original object, without worrying about import and exporting information.
The information on this page describes how this import and export works so you can set it up manually if you need to.
Importing geometry into a simulation ¶
These nodes let you grab geometry from a node in a geometry network and attach it as Geometry data to a dynamics object.
To import |
Use this node |
|---|---|
Geometry |
|
Scalar field (from a volume primitive) |
|
Vector field (from a volume primitive) |
|
Object position and velocity |
SOP Geometry
SOP Scalar Field
SOP Vector Field
Object PositionImporting particles ¶
See the particle solver.
Caching/archiving simulation to disk ¶
See caching simulations.
Exporting simulation data to other networks ¶
Data reference syntax ¶
You can use the following syntax to reference dynamics data in various import nodes discussed below:
‹network path›[:‹name›[/‹data name›]]
…where name can be an object name, object ID, or group name, and can be a wildcard.
For example…
Network |
Object |
Data name |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
If you set the DOP Network as the node to import, you will import the geometry of every object in the simulation. If you include an object name or ID (or object name wildcard, such as brick*), you will import the Geometry data of that object. If you include a data name, you will import that specific piece of data.
Tip
You can pull out any type of geometry data from a simulation, including not just the final simulated geometry, but also collision fields, visualizations, and guide geometry. Look in the details view to see what data is available on a given object.
Geometry and transforms ¶
| To... | Do this |
|---|---|
|
Import geometry from a simulation into a geometry network |
|
|
Use position data from a simulation as the transform of an object |
The |
|
Use position data from a simulation as the transform for geometry |
The |
Fetch object
Transform PiecesFluid fields ¶
Use the 
Object Merge or 
DOP Import surface nodes to import scalar or vector field data (as a volume primitive) or geometry from a fluid object for shading and rendering.
A dynamics 
Fluid Object has several useful pieces of data to import, including the surface and visualization fields, as well as fields like velocity (vel). You can use the details view to see what data is available on a fluid object.
For example:
-
Surface sign distance field:
/obj/AutoDopNetwork:fluid/surface -
Visualization geometry:
/obj/AutoDopNetwork:fluid/surface/Visualization -
Velocity vector field:
/obj/AutoDopNetwork:fluid/vel
The visualization field may be more useful to extract the surface than the actual surface field so you don’t have to surface it yourself (see below), but you may want to turn off the bounding box first on the fluid object’s Guides tab.
Reversing and manipulating a field ¶
The sign distance field you get by importing the surface data from a fluid object is reversed from what the volume primitive expects, so that the “fluid” and “absence” areas are reversed when you import a fluid into a volume primitive.
You can reverse reverse the field by appending a 
Volume Mix surface node. On the Mix Method node, set the Mix method parameter to User and the Value parameter to -$V ($V is the current value of a point, so -$V just reverses the value).
Surfacing volumes ¶
You can use the Iso surface node to create a surface along the fluid boundary in a sign distance volume like you get from a fluid object. Append the IsoSurface node and set the Implicit function parameter to $V.
Display and render geometry ¶
Like 
surface nodes, dynamics objects can have separate display and render geometry. In dynamics, this is accomplished by attaching two different pieces of geometry data to the object representing display and render geometry, and then attaching rendering sub-data to each piece of geometry.
You can use the Rendering Parameters node to attach sub-data to geometry data indicating whether the geometry should be used for display or render or both. To attach the sub-data, connect the Rendering Parameters node to the object with an 
Apply Data node, and set the Rendering Parameter’s Data name parameter to a path under the geometry where the sub-data should be attached, for example Geometry/RenderParms.
Once you've attached the sub-data, you can use the Rendering Parameter node’s Display and Render parameters to control whether the geometry data it’s attached to should be visible in the viewer and/or when the dynamics network is rendered directly.
(The Rendering Parameters node also lets you attach a material for test rendering.)
