SPH - Fibers

This emitter is something special, because it is completely different from all the other types. With “Fibers” you can create filaments from an object’s vertices. These filaments are oriented along the surface’s normals. In contrast to RealFlow’s other emitters, there is no constant emission of particles. All particles are arranged along a linear path and forces are used to disturb them.”Fibers” can be influenced by any daemon.

With this emitter you can easily simulate hair-like structures, algae on the surface of submerged objects, roots or tentacles.

Object

It is necessary to select an object first from where the fibres are created. This function opens an object picker with all suitable nodes.

Length

Here you can determine the length of the filaments in metres [m].

Length variation

If you need some randomness, add a variation to the filaments’ length. This value accepts any positive entry.

Threshold

This setting defines the distance between the streaks and the object’s vertices.

Stiffness

Here you can control and determine rigidity or softness of the fibres.

Fiber damping

To make the filaments lose energy, adjust this value. Very low damping settings may cause unwanted movements and there should be a certain amount of damping to produce more realistic results.

Interpolate

By default, RealFlow creates one fibre along the normal of each vertex, but very often the objects are low polygon proxy versions from high-resolution models to save simulation time. So the amount of fibres is not sufficient. With “Interpolate” you can specify how many elements are generated between the initially generated filaments. This helps you to create a dense cover over the entire surface or between the selected vertices.

Select Vertex

Activating this button switches into selection mode. There are two ways to select vertices. The first method is to click on the desired vertex. Multiple selections are supported by pressing the Shift key. You can deselect points by clicking on them with the pressed Ctrl (Windows/Linux) or Cmd (OS X) key. Please note that “Select Vertex” does not recognize hidden points. Everything that is within reach of the mouse pointer will be selected. Another way is to hold the left mouse button and drag the mouse over the desired area. This will create a rectangular selection, including points hidden to the viewer. Once you are satisfied with your selection, deactivate “Select Vertex” to confirm your choice.

Clear selection

Click on this button to clear the previously made selection of vertices.

Create

When you click on this button, RealFlow creates fibres from the selected points. By default, the standard particle type is set to "Dumb". You can also overwrite or replace existing fibres to achieve a different look.

Mesh tube

The standard setting for this feature is “Yes”. This means that the fibres are taken into account during the meshing process. If you do not want them to become meshed, simply switch to “No”. “Yes” provides access to the mesh-related parameters below. The filaments will be meshed as (more or less) thin tubes.

@ Mesh width

This parameter defines the diameter of the tube around the particles. If “@ Mesh” width and “@ Mesh width end” are identical, the diameter remains constant. This value is measured in metres [m].

@ Mesh width end

If you do not want a constant diameter of the mesh tubes then select an end value here. The result is a conical fibre. This value is measured in metres [m].

@ Mesh section

Here you can control the roundness of the resulting mesh. It determines the number of points that will be used to create the hull around the particles.