Meshes are one of the core concepts of RealFlow – regardless of whether you are dealing with grid fluids, particle fluids or RealWave particle layers. The first question certainly is: “What is a mesh?”. In RealFlow, a mesh is a three dimensional representation of the outmost particles of one or more emitters. The mesh engine puts a sort of skin over these particles to visualize the fluid’s volume. This polygon mesh can then be treated like any other object inside your 3D application. You can apply shaders and textures, even with UV coordinates, combine it with motion blurred particles, and render everything to create a convincing fluid.
Close view of a RealFlow mesh with visible polygons.
One of the most important criteria for a good mesh is the number of particles. This parameter is responsible for the quality of a fluid and also for the final mesh. The better the particle simulation, the better the final mesh. But even with smaller particle amounts it is possible to create a convincing mesh. The secret is to find the correct settings and that is, of course, not always easy. Meshing always needs a certain amount of testing to find out the working parameters and to avoid an unwanted “blobby” look with thick and round edges. Another common misunderstanding is the belief that the number of polygons (“Polygon size”) automatically improves the quality of a mesh.
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