Houdini 20.5 Shelf tools

Sand Box shelf tool

Creates a patch of sand with a collision object which contains the sand.

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Overview

This tool creates a patch of sand with a collision object which contains the sand. You can either create a sand box using a terrain object as the surface, or if you don’t select an object to use as the surface, this tool will use a default grid. You would typically want to use this tool any time you want to start with a container of sand rather than an object made of sand. For example, when simulating a desert, an actual sandbox, or a patch of ground as sand.

Using Sand Box

  1. Create a terrain object to be used as the surface of the sand.

  2. Click the Sand Box tool on the Grains tab.

For specific parameter information, see the Extrude Volume and Grain Source help pages.

How to change the look of your sand box

To...Do this

Control how deep the sand box will be

Modify the Depth parameter on the Extrude Volume SOP. It controls how far below the surface sand will be generated.

Prevent sand from falling out of the sand box when it is moved around

Use the Base Lift parameter on the Extrude Volume SOP. It controls how far above the surface the sand box will extend.

Change the shape of the container walls

Increase the Base Padding parameter on the Extrude Volume SOP. This parameter causes the sand box to taper outward from the base. This can be used to help hide the sides of the container, and is useful because sand will collide with the edges and slide down in a more natural way than it would with perfectly vertical walls.

Shelf tools

Using the shelf

  • Customize the shelf

    How to change the look of the shelf, change and rearrange its contents, and create your own shelf tools.

Technical