RealFlow's “Connectivity Plugins for Cinema 4D” contain a set of tools to establish a bridge between both programs. The data, written by RealFlow, cannot be loaded and processed in Cinema 4D by default. Cinema 4D's object geometry, UV coordinates, and particles, on the other hand, cannot be used in RealFlow without a common platform. In contrast to the RealFlow RenderKit (RFRK), the plugins support all of RealFlow's data: geometry, particles, meshes, and RealWave surfaces. The RFRK's main purpose is different, and therefore the workflow of both tools is different as well. Here is a short compilation showing the main aspects of the connectivity plugins and the RenderKit:
The Channel Concept
One of the most important concepts with particles and meshes are channels. A channel can be seen as a placeholder for storing specific physical data or properties, e.g. velocities, temperature, pressure, vorticity, or other data. The Cinema 4D plugins can read this information and provide it via vertex maps, special shaders, or XPresso nodes. From there, the channels can be connected with Cinema 4D materials to drive transparency, or other attributes.
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| Channel | BIN & PXY (SPH) | RPC & PXY (HySPH) | RPC & PXY (Hybrido) | BIN (Particle Meshes) | BIN (Hybrido Meshes) | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Vector 3D | |||||
| Velocity | Vector 3D | |||||
| Texture | Vector 3D | |||||
| Vorticity | Vector 3D | |||||
Normal | Vector 3D | |||||
| Id | Integer | |||||
| Radius | Real | |||||
| Emitter Id | Integer | |||||
| Force | Vector 3D | |||||
| Neighbors | Integer | |||||
| Mask | Integer | |||||
| Age | Real | |||||
| Isolation | Real | |||||
| Density | Real | |||||
| Pressure | Real | |||||
| Mass | Real | |||||
| Temperature | Real | |||||
| Viscosity | Real | |||||
| UV | Vector 3D | |||||
| Curvature | Real | |||||
| Splashity | Real | |||||
| Weight | Real |
...