Previews are necessary, because in most cases it is not possible to play back a simulation in realtime. All preview images are stored in the project folder's “preview” directory.

OpenGL Previews

This preview type is created from an existing simulation and can be configured in many ways:

The preview size is defined under Preferences > Preview > Default Options or a camera's “Width” and “Height” parameters.

To hide the → viewport grid press the G key.
The camera's viewport frames are disabled under View > Camera Safe Frame.
The scene's node list in the viewport's upper left corner is disabled under Preferences > Display > Display Info
Decide, which scene elements you want to see in preview and hide unwanted nodes.
The preview range can be adjusted with the timeline's playback frame fields - green is the start frame, red the stop frame.

Your preview can be recorded from any perspective view or a camera:

Display shelf > OpenGL Preview
RealFlow will go through the given playback range, load the simulation data, and record each frame to disk.
Once the frames have been recorded they are assembled and shown in the → “Movie Player”.

The OpenGL preview icon.

Screenshot Previews

If you want to use this method please activate the appropriate export resource first:

Export > Export Central (F12) > PREVIEW > Image sequence (*)
Double-click on the “tga” option for a list with available file formats.

With this method, RealFlow will take a 1:1 screenshot from the viewport:

The preview size corresponds directly with the size of the viewport window.
You can decide whether the images are taken at simulation time or during playback.
When the screenshots are taken the perspective should not be changed, because you will see these changes in the final preview.
Screenshot previews are not assembled automatically, but it is possible to load them with the → “Movie Player”.

Screenshot previews are configured in the same way as described under “OpenGL Previews” above – except preview size.

Maxwell Previews

This preview type is actually a render process and requires an active → camera perspective (5 key):

RealFlow provides → physical camera settings and you can play with parameters like shutter speed, f-stop, or ISO values.
The size of the rendered images is controlled with the camera's “Width” and “Height” parameters.
If desired, adjust the playback range in the timeline (see timeline image above).
Materials can be applied manually for every node under Node Params > Maxwell Render > Material.
Lighting, image quality, sampling level etc. are adjusted under Render shelf > Maxwell Scene Preferences:

Click on Render shelf > Maxwell Preview
Once the frames have been rendered they are assembled and shown in the → “Movie Player”.

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