FAQ - General

What is the optimal scale to work with RealFlow?

Unfortunately, there is no global rule for scene scales, but working at real scale helps you to perform faster simulations. Most of the connectivity plugins provide settings for compensating scale differences. RealFlow's viewport grid can be used as a reference and with a scale of 1.0, each grid element has a size of 1m x 1m.

How can I work with big scales?

Rather than importing big objects into RealFlow, you can simply change the scale of the forces you are using. In other words: if you have 1 box of 1 m x 1 m x 1 m, and you want to run a simulation as if the box was 10 m x 10 m x 10 m instead then you do not need to scale the box itself. Just multiply the scale of the forces by 0.1.

How can I create a fluid scene quickly?

First, you need to create an emitter from the emitter toolbar. Then, simply place a box below the emitter, add a gravity force and simulate. A description of this setup can be found here.

How do I import objects into RealFlow?

Any object has to be triangulated before it can be used inside RealFlow. The method you use to import objects depends on whether you want to export static or animated objects: 

1. For static objects, RealFlow can import SD, ABC, or OBJ files. OBJ and ABC files can be imported with "Import", and the SD format can be imported with "Import" as well, or the "MultiBody" option. A MultiBody can contain multiple objects, which are considered as individual objects in the simulation. SD format will create one node per object in RealFlow.
2. For animated objects, you must use the SD import or load an Alembic file. MultiBodies cannot handle animation, and neither does the OBJ format.

How do I import fluids into my 3D program?

RealFlow exports data in several formats. Next Limit provides free connectivity plugins to import this data into the supported 3D packages. The connectivity plugins are available for download from our "Customer Gateway".

What is a Hybrido Domain?

It is the base of the Hybrido solver inside of RealFlow which supports massive fluid scenes with millions of particles. Hybrido domains can be mixed with splash, foam and mist sources to create realistic scenes.

What are the Multijoint and Multiservo nodes? 

MultiJoints have been created to replace the former constraints, available in RealFlow until version 4. They are actually a group of individual joints with the same specifications. Joints are much more flexible and robust than constraints, and they can be created automatically, just by detecting if objects are close enough. Other advantages are controllable forces, enhanced collision detection, plastic deformation and the ability to use them with rigid and soft bodies. It is even possible to join rigid and soft bodies.

Put briefly, a servo is a little motor. With the help of RealFlow's MultiServos you can now accelerate and move objects in a physically correct manner.

Does RealFlow render fluids?

With RealFlow's implementation of our photo-realistic Maxwell Render it is possible to render fluids directly inside Next Limit's fluid simulation tool.

How do I change the length of my simulation?

You do this by changing the number of frames in the field next to the simulate button. Since RealFlow 2012 there is also a new tool called "Retimer". With this tool it is possible to perform time warping as a post process. Under the "General" tab of the "Simulation Options" window you will find the frames per second settings of the simulation.

How do I kill the particles, or give them a fixed lifespan?

You can kill particles by age, speed, isolation, collision, and a bounding box or sphere.

How does RealFlow work with more than one processor?

Yes, that is possible. Depending on your simulation, RealFlow exploits all cores and CPUs of your computer. The more particles, the better the simulation's performance.

How can I define the quality of my rigid/soft body dynamics?

You can define the quality through the rigid and soft body solver's "Quality" slider under "Simulation Options".

How many wave modifiers can I add to the RealWave surface?

You can add as many waves as you want. Each one can be deactivated using its parameters and weighted/blended with the "Weight" parameter.

What are the minimum system requirements for RealFlow?

Please click here for detailed information about this topic.