Adding Scene Elements

A node is an element of your scene, regardless of whether it is a polygon object, an emitter, a daemon etc. One method to add nodes is using RealFlow's → shelves:

• Click on a shelf to open it and see the contained nodes.
• Click on a node icon to add it to the scene.

Once the node has been added it can be positioned, rotated, and scaled – the associated shortcut is printed in brackets.

• Position (W)
• Rotation (E)
• Scale (R)

When a translation mode is active you will see handles around the node to perform the changes. Alternatively it is also possible to position, rotate, and scale a node numerically: 

Selected node > Node Params > Node > Position | Rotation | Scale

Here you can see three values for the X, Y, and Z axes. Such a trio of values is also called a vector.

Imported Polygon Nodes

RealFlow is simulation software, not a modelling program, and therefore the possibilities of creating or manipulating polygon objects are very limited. But, objects can be imported from other sources – including animation keys and vertex deformation. Supported files formats are ABC (Alembic), OBJ, DXF, MXS (Maxwell Scene), and SD (RealFlow's native format for geometries).

An external object is imported with

Ctrl/Cmd + I

Please mind the → scale when you import objects. Scale can be adjusted using the “Geometry scale” parameter:

Imported nodes are always locked to preserve their animation and deformation data. This means that they cannot be repositioned, rotated, or scaled. If you want to unlock an imported node go to

Selected (imported) node > Node > SD ↔ Curve (see → "Node Params" screenshot above)

Please bear in mind that you will lose all deformation data by clicking on this button. Animation data will be translated into keys though. To restore the original state, simply press “SD ↔ Curve” again.