Spline Follow

 

In this tutorial you will learn how to use FumeFX` Spline Follow.

In 3ds Max, select File->Open, and from your /Scenes/FumeFX/ Tutorials folder, select the file Tut_13_start.max.

 

 

Open the FumeFX UI and go to the obj/src rollout and select the FFX Spline Follow001.

Select the Disp. Always checkbox so that you can see the influence radius even if the Spline Follow isn`t selected.

 

 

Open the FumeFX` gen rollout and adjust the Output path.

Press the Simulate button to see how the simulation with initial parameters looks like.

 

As you can see from the initial simulation, the radius of influence needs to be larger so that the smoke does not escape from the Spine Follow`s influence. Adjust the Inf. Radius value to 20.

 

Also, we want the smoke to travel much faster along the NURBS Curve, so adjust the Along Axis Force Strength to 2.7.

 

Run the simulation again and see how those changes have affected the simulation.

 

If you want the front of the smoke not to widen as it progress along the curve, set the From Axis Force Strength to -0.1 which will pull the smoke towards to the NURBS curve.

 

To add a bit of turbulence and detail to the flow, open the sim rollout and set X Turbulence to 0.3 and Turbulence Noise Scale to 10, Detail to 2.0.

 

Run the simulation.

 

It seems a bit more detailed, but the flow still looks a bit too rigid.

To make it more natural, under the Flow Params set the Blending Rate to 0.5. Lower value means that Spline Follow will allow velocities from the grid to affect the flow.

 

Run the simulation.

 

If we want to make the smoke to rotate around the NURBS Curve, set the Around Axis Force Strength to 1.0 and run the simulation.