ISurf
This is the FumeFX' particle and FumeFX smoke/fire mesher.
To create ISurf, go to the Create Command Panel and from the FumeFX menu, select ISurf. Then click and drag in any 3ds Max viewport to create it. When done, you will be presented with a number of options.
Grid Spacing - Iso surface meshing in done on a regular grid where each grid cell calculated contrubution of each partcile. Smaller spacing will result in more detailed mesh but it';; take considerable more memory and time to compute.
Particle % - Percentage of particles that you want to use.
Meshing Mode - There are several methods to create iso surface and each method will be covered below. Zhu-Bridson will generate the smoothest surface, while Anisotropic is the best for meshing water particles.
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Union of Spheres |
Metaballs |
Zhu-Bridson |
Anisotropic |
Union of Spheres
Treats each particle as perfect sphere. Resulting mesh won't be as smooth as other modes.
Metaballs
This is a standard iso surface generation method.
Threshold - Iso surface threshold. Smaller threshold will produce more relaxed surface.
Zhu-Bridson
More advanced method than metaballs that tends to create a smoother surface.
Threshold - Iso surface threshold. Smaller threshold will produce more relaxed surface.
Anisotropic
The most advanced and the slowest method that allows particles to be stretched to create the smoothest surface of all available methods. This meshing mode is perfect for smooth liquids surface.
Threshold - Iso surface threshold. Smaller threshold will produce more relaxed surface.
Min. Neighbours - Particle will be stretched only if it has at least this many neighbours.
Lambda - Smaller value will result in surface with more disconnected areas.
Max Stretch - Maximum particle stretch amount.
FumeFX Meshing
This option lets you mesh FumeFX smoke, fire and temperature fields.
Spacing Scale - When meshing FumeFX fields, the ISurf grid spacing will be set to the FumeFX Grid spacing. Use this option to create finer of coarser meshes.
Threshold - FumeFX grid voxels with channel values lower than threshold will be considered as empty.
Channel - Channel you with to create mesh from.