USE PARTICLES TO CREATE A SPLASH

Make a liquid splash using Realflow and 3ds Max

This tutorial will take a look at how you can make a liquid splash, or crown effect, and can be used to make splashes out of water, milk, paint or any liquid.

You may have seen this type of effect on the internet, as part of an advert or in real life, when you drop an object into liquid.

Various software and plug-ins can help us achieve the liquid effect, including Realflow, 3ds Max’s Phoenix FD plug-in, Maya, Houdini and Cinema 4D. However, many big VFX and animation studios use Realflow in their pipeline as this software is wellestablished, trustworthy and, most importantly, user friendly. There are different techniques you can use to make this effect in Realflow, including standard Hybrido or Dyverso particles, but for this project we are going to use standard particles.

Before you start working on this kind of effect, you should have good knowledge of the properties of liquid. You must know what viscosity, adhesion and surface tension are, for example. Also bear in mind that different types of liquid such as water, oil, milk and honey each have different properties.

I can’t teach you every single parameter of the plug-in and software, as this would require too much time. So as far as the liquid crown effect is concerned, we will learn as much as required for this particular tutorial.

This is a very interesting subject, because the process of creating this effect isn’t necessarily static or linear. As you use your creativity and play with the different tools, you may end up creating a variety of different effects, some which you’ll like more than others.

The result you end up with may also depend on your understanding of tools and techniques, as well as your own preferences and creative process. For all the assets you need, go to www.bit.ly/vault-213-realtime