FumeFX Menu

 

 

From the FumeFX menu you can create FumeFX grid, Sources, Effector, Gravity and perform other operations.

 

FumeFX Node – it will create the FumeFX node in the scene with default parameters.

 

FumeFX Node With Simple Source –with this option you can create FumeFX grid and Simple Source that is automatically attached to the grid.

 

Simple, Object, Particle, Void, FumeFX Source, Effector, Gravity and Spline Follow – will create one of those nodes. If this action is executed while FumeFX is selected, then the newly created source will be automatically connected to FumeFX grid.

 

Attach – this option is enabled only if Geometry or Particle System and FumeFX grid are selected.

 

Attach Geometry To FumeFX Node As Collision – if you have selected geometry and FumeFX this command will create collisionProxy node and connect object to it. If there are multiple objects selected, then there will be multiples collisionProxy nodes created.

 

Attach Particle System To FumeFX Node As Source – this command works similar to the Attach Geometry command. However, you have to keep in mind that you’ll need to have selected FumeFX and particle but not the emitter (as shown on the image below).

 

Particle Operators – this option contains options that allow you to create and advect particles based on the values in the FumeFX grid.

 

FumeFX Particle Emitter - with FumeFX selected choose this command to create particle emitter node that will spawn particles based on the data inside the FumeFX grid. Make sure that, during the simulation, you have exported all the channels that will be used for the tests inside the ParticleEmitter Attribute Editor.

 

FumeFX Follow Field –to be able to use this option you will have to select FumeFX grid and ffxParticle (shown on the image below). In order to make particles follow velocities inside the FumeFX grid, make sure that you have exported velocities.

 

Preview – FumeFX comes with the versatile and GPU accelerated preview window.

 

 

Open Preview - This option will open Preview Window

 

Close Preview - Closes Preview Window

 

Use GPU – In this mode, Preview Window will use your graphic card’s GPU to render image. This mode also support self-shadows with multiple lights.

GPU Preview doesn’t support Separate Alpha and Fluid Mapping.
It could fail if your video card does not have at least 256Mb of memory. Also, the hardware minimum is nVidia GeForce 7 series or ATI Radeon R600 series. In the case of problems, please download and install the latest graphic card drivers from your graphic card vendor.

 

Export Preview During Simulation – FumeFX has ability to create preview while simulating. It can output only .png image sequence.

 

Make Preview - Will open following dialog with options for the preview making process.

 

 

Start Frame and End Frame - Those frames refer to Maya Animation Start and End Time.

 

Every Nth - Allows you to skip frames for the preview.

 

Playback FPS - Changes video playback speed.

 

Path - Displays current path and filename used to create animation preview. You can choose between two output formats – AVI animation (Windows),  Quicktime .mov (Linux) or PNG image sequence.

 

Codec - Allows you to choose codec for encoding an avi/mov file. Some codecs might not be compatible, while some codecs could fail if you use too small preview window, or its size is not an even number.

 

Play Preview – Plays the preview animation.

 

Window Size – Allows you to specify preview window dimensions.

 

Utilities

 

Match Grid In File – You can use this option to set the FumeFX grid dimensions based on the currently loaded cache file.

 

Reassign F3D Channels – Opens the dialog that lets you change channel assignment for f3D or openVDB cache files.