The “RealFlow” menu contains the following entries:
You typically start with an emitter to determine, where the fluid particles will be created. This action creates a “Scene” tree and a “Fluid” container. A “Daemon”, e.g. “Gravity”, introduces a force and accelerates the particles. These three elements, “Fluid”, “Emitter”, and “Daemon”, are everything you need for a simulation.
In the next step, the simulation is refined, e.g. if you want to create a certain fluid type like water or honey. The “Fluid” container's parameters are used to adjust the fluid's properties. Once you are satisfied you can add a mesh and finally, fluids and meshes are cashed to save your results.
The number of emitters, fluid containers, and daemons per scene is not restricted and you can add as many of these elements as you want – or as you computer is able to handle.
The online manual's → "Parameter Reference" section explains every single scene elements and its settings.
Useful Tips
Here are some quick tips for your work with RealFlow | Cinema 4D.
Scene Tree
We recommend grouping all RealFlow | Cinema 4D elements under the “Scene” tree. This will not only help to keep your project clearly arranged, but will prevent you from problems as well.
Naming
It is a good idea to either keep the names assigned by RealFlow | Cinema 4D, or use meaningful names for a scene's “Fluid” containers, e.g. “Water”, “Chocolate”, or “Oil”. Please avoid identical names, although they are supported by Cinema 4D:
- With identical names there is always a probability that simulation files are overwritten.
- You also might not be able to identify scene elements when a scene is reopened after a longer period of time.
Caching
Try to keep track of your cache files. The best way is to create a common folder where the Cinema 4D files are stored together with the simulation files. This also concerns naming (see above). The cache folder can be adjusted under the “Scene” tree's “Cache” tab.
RealFlow | Cinema 4D writes one particle file per "Fluid" container and frame, and one mesh file per "Mesher" container and frame. Both, the number and size of the files can grow quickly, so please make sure that you have enough free disk space available.
Simulation data are not saved with the Cinema 4D project file. If you close a file without caching all previously simulated data will be lost. The scene elements (emitters, daemons, etc.) will be kept, of course.
File Formats
RealFlow | Cinema 4D uses the RPC format (“RealFlow Particle Cache”) for its particle files. These files are fully compatible with RealFlow's standalone version, but also with the RealFlow RenderKit and the Connectivity Plugins. Both tools are available from your customer account on realflow.com.
Meshes are stored as ABC files (Alembic). These ABCs can be loaded with Cinema 4D, RealFlow standalone, or any other application with Alembic support.