FumeFX Menu

 

 

From the FumeFX menu you can create FumeFX grid, all types of 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 Source, Object Source, Particle Source, Void Source, 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. Depending on the selection, following sub - menu option(s) will be enabled.

 

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

By default, your simulation will not appear in the Maya viewports

 

Enable GPU Viewport - This option enables the viewport display on or off. FumeFX GPU display can be active in one perspective/camera viewport only. Make sure to use Viewport 2.0 as other display option are not supported.

 

Keep in mind that in order to display its data FumeFX requires loading of output files and it could take some time before the viewport updates.

 

 

Quality - Determines the overall display quality. Keep in mind that high quality viewport display will require faster graphic card.

 

Hide Grid - Enable this option to hide most of the adaptive grid box from the viewport.

 

Enable Shadows - This option has to be enabled in order for FumeFX to compute self shadows and shadows from FumeFX to objects in the scene.

 

Enable Geometry Occlusions - This option has a great impact on the overall look inside the viewport. If enabled, it will result in correct rendering, shadows and blending of FumeFX volumetrics and scene geometry. The downside is that it can be time consuming.

 

Auto Switch Viewports - When enabled, whenever you select any perspective viewport, the GPU Viewport Display will become activate within it. Otherwise, the GPU viewport will activate only when FumeFX grid is re - selected.

 

Overlay Information - Allows you to overlay various information in the lower - bottom corner of the Maya viewport.

 

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

 

Change Output Path - Allows you to select the output path for the preview file.

 

Debug GPU - When a user has issues with the GPU mode, it is advisable to use the Debug GPU mode - there will be a lot of information written to the debug file. We can use this information to troubleshoot various issues.

 

 

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.

 

Review Attributes - It will open a dialog that will list parameters and values that were changed from their defaults. It's a great tool to help you see what parameters have been changed