Effector
While FumeFX already has a rich set of parameters to control simulations, these parameters affect each voxel in the grid equally. With the newly added Effectors, users have much more control to affect virtually each voxel with its own set of parameters. Effectors enable users to control parameters such as the Gravity or Vorticity in each voxel based on input data (eg. velocity, smoke, 3d map).
To create a FumeFX Effector, click on the FumeFX menu and select Effector.
Effector will be created automatically and its parameters will be presented within attribute editor.
Effector parameters are organized into three main modules: Test, Input and Output.
The Test module allows you to control which voxels will be processed. Available channels to sample are Fire, Fuel, Smoke, Temperature and Velocity. The checkbox for each listed channel enables testing within the effector. If the sampled value does not fall within the specified range (test returns false), the value is returned without altering the FumeFX parameter. If the sampled value falls within the specified range (test returns true), the value will be passed to the input module for continued execution.
The Input module reads the channel selected in the Type listbox and will convert any voxel value into the 0-1 range and pass it to the Output module.
The Output module controls how the resulting values from all previous operation are used to generate a final output value. These values can be fine-tuned with the Output Value ramp. Shape Falloff is applied to the final value.
Active ??? This checkbox turns the Effector on or off
Source
Shape ??? The Effector has five geometry types: Free, Sphere, Cube, Cylinder or Geometry. Free shape will result in an Effector that is applied to the entire FumeFX grid. Other shapes will have their effect limited to the voxels located inside the shape. Geometry type will limit its effect only within the selected object.
Dimension Parameters - Depending on the selected Shape, you can set Diameter, or Width, Length, and Height.
Use Shape Falloff ??? Enable or disable the usage of the Falloff ramp.
Shape Falloff ??? If Use Falloff is enabled, this ramp controls blending of the current voxel value with the Effector???s result. The ramp???s horizontal axis is the distance from the Effector???s center and the vertical axis is the falloff value (1 means that Effector will be applied with maximum strength and 0 means the Effector will have no effect leaving the grid values unchanged). The Falloff option is disabled when Free or Geometry shape is used. Falloff ramp is applied after all other ramps.
Channel - Enter the channel name here. Almost every FumeFX parameter has an option to use Effector based on its Channel name. Valid channel names cannot contain blank spaces.
Test
This group of controls defines the conditions when an Effector will be applied. Tests can be performed against multiple fields such as Fire, Fuel, Oxygen, Smoke, Temperature, Velocity nd Color. If more than one test is used, all of them must satisfy test condition as otherwise Effector won???t be applied to that voxel.
Input
Type ??? Select which input type will be used to modify FumeFX parameter. With Constant type, no channels will be evaluated as an input.
Range Min/Range Max. ??? The Effector needs the exact range of the input field to properly compute the output value. Values that are outside of this range will be clamped.
Output
Output Operator ??? Select how the Effector will be applied to the FumeFX parameter or voxel channel. Current options include Multiply, Blend, Replace and Add. Multiply will multiply the value inside the voxel with the Effector???s final value and user defined Scalar, Color or Vector value. Replace will replace and Add will add value to the voxel. Blend will use the Effector???s final value to blend between the value in the voxel and user defined Scalar, Color or Vector value.
Output Value ??? Use this ramp to alter final result. Horizontal axis represents input value and the vertical axis represents output value. The default setup does not alter the output value. For example, to invert output, you need to set first key to value 1 and last key to value 0 (opposite to default values).
Radial Multiplier ??? Use this ramp to vary the final output value by distance from the Effector???s center. Vertical axis of this ramp represents the multiplication value that will be applied to the final value. This ramp is applied after the Output Value ramp. When using with Color, resulting value from the Radial Multiplier is used on the horizontal axis of the color Gradient. This way you can apply various colors based on the distance from an Effector???s center.
Scalar ??? This value will be used for all scalar parameters such as Gravity or Vorticity.
Color ??? A gradient is used for parameters like Color Master Effector.
Vector ??? It represents the vector components and is used for parameters like Velocity Master Effector.