Introduction

 

 

 

Welcome to FumeFX, a groundbreaking solution for incredibly realistic and breathtaking effects with fire, smoke, explosions, particle system, cloth, soft body dynamics, rigid body dynamics geometry fracturing and more. This unique plug-in is a powerful dynamics simulator created by Sitni Sati for seamless integration with Autodesk Media & Entertainment`s 3ds max™ modeling and animation software. Designed for use by visual effects artists, game developers, and visualization professionals who demand the utmost in realism, FumeFX is unrivalled in its ability to capture the nuance and complexity of fluid gas behavior. The new FumeFX offers powerful node based particles, cloth, soft body and rigid body simulations with bi-directional interaction with FumeFX fire and smoke.

 

The key to the FumeFX difference is that it combines your specific aesthetic vision with real-world physics. FumeFX fire and smoke behave according to the laws of fluid dynamics and react to relevant physical forces, such as temperature and gravity. This means you can produce realistic voxel-based simulations with greater speed and ease than ever before. Furthermore, the combination of a dynamic feature set, intuitive user interface, and open architecture offer the performance and flexibility to enhance virtually any pipeline. Simply put, there is no other combustion effects tool that can compete with physics simulation power in this plug-in.

 

The reason that FumeFX can accurately simulate the behavior of fire and smoke is because it is based on the laws of fluid dynamics. This means that you can now mimic real combustion without studying physics. Still, in order to understand the basic concepts behind FumeFX, it may help to spend a brief moment to consider the influence of physics within the program`s design.

 

To begin, fluid gases, such as fire and smoke, do not have a set size or shape. So, in physics, a fluid is generally regarded as a continuum, rather than as a bunch of individual molecules. FumeFX approaches fluid from the same viewpoint; it operates on an adaptive 3D grid of voxels (volumetric pixels), which mimics a continuum of fluid. This grid expands and shrinks with the movement or absence of fluid. Also, in the real world combustion is a combination of fuel, temperature, smoke, and velocity; accordingly these are the same properties that affect your simulation in FumeFX. Their values are defined in each voxel of the FumeFX grid. And, of course, external forces, such as gravity or solid objects, can also be used to influence your effects. These combined parameters will determine how your simulation behaves.

 

So, for example, smoke is affected by gravity and temperature is affected by buoyancy. The higher the temperature of the smoke, the faster it will rise, depending on buoyancy parameter. And, the denser the smoke is, the faster it will fall, depending on the force of gravity.

 

Of course, physics aside, FumeFX also includes a wide array of options that allow you control the rendered appearance of your simulation. These include parameters such as colors, opacity, and shadows, all of which allow you to tailor your effect to your aesthetic needs.