i just wanna know how can i make this kind of set up in houdini:

http://area.autodesk.com/userdata/fckdata/200/flash/goalMayaSmokeLong4.flv [area.autodesk.com]

because it looks a little complex.

To create a custom setup you could use gasTargetForce microsolver. using attract fluid from shelf is the easier solution.

I need to do something along these lines as well, but cant seem to
get my fluid to really take the shape of the goal anywhere near what
this this video does. Can anyone offer some expertise?

Off the shelf the attractFluid/gas_targetForce gets me as close as an etheral
blob around my target (see attached hip) but whats needed to really get the smoke to settle into/become the target density?

I have a smoke sim that I need to augment to attract into a target later into its evolution. Ive gone down the road of using pop attraction techniques, and can get an element that way per say, but i really want an element where the original smoke sim directs itself toward and ideally into a static shape.

In short, how can i iteratively tighten this gas target force setup into the goal shape? t.i.a

Hey Steve,

I've added a couple updates to your file within the DOP network. It's important to note that Houdini volumes are incompressible, and therefore unable to shrink into a shape. To get around this, use a negative divergence field to suck away excess volume. Then add another field as a reveal mask within the goal/negative divergence. This will allow you to see the smoke make it's final target shape.

Take a look, and hope it helps!

cheers,
-j

super clever idea jacob. thanks so much!

I never would have thought of using a buddy density field to reveal the target.
i was going down the road of herding the smoke with various velocity and target gradient fields which works reasonably, but never really gets the target coverage i was hoping for.

https://vimeo.com/83495918 [vimeo.com]