3DS - RealFlow Mesh Import

Owned by thomas (Unlicensed)
Last updated: 30 Oct, 2013
3 min read

Sequences of BIN mesh files can be loaded using the "MeshLoader" object. The "MeshLoader" object can be created using the toolbar button shown below, with the File >Import menu, the RealFlow > Create Bin Mesh object menu, or from the 3ds Max “Create” tab.

When you create the "MeshLoader" from the RealFlow toolbar/menu, a "File Open" dialog will open asking for the BIN mesh file sequence. After the file sequence is selected, a MeshLoader object will be created and placed at the center of the scene (0, 0, 0). The default viewport representation for the "MeshLoader" object is a cube. Whenever there is an error loading the BIN file sequence, or there is no sequence loaded, this default representation will be used.

"MeshLoader" Object Properties

Here are the "MeshLoader" properties:

 

 

The settings for the MeshLoader object are:

  • BIN Mesh sequence: Opens a dialog box allowing the user to select a file from a sequence of BIN mesh files. After the file has been selected, the prefix for the emitter is calculated based on the format and padding size specified by the user in the “File name options” group.
  • Format: Has four predefined file formats that match RealFlow’s file name options.
  • Padding Size:Number of digits used to represent the frame. The frame number will replace “#” from the selected file name format when the final file name is calculated.
  • Prefix: Replaces the “name” part in the name format specification.
  • Start: Specifies the initial frame in which the MeshLoader object should start loading the mesh sequence.
  • Offset: Specifies the first frame of the BIN file sequence which will be used by the "MeshLoader object".
  • Strength: Used when motion blur is turned on and acts as a multiplier for the mesh velocity channel found in the file.
  • File Frame Information: Displays per frame information for the mesh, like the number of fluids found, if they have UVW data and if the velocity channel (speed) is present. The velocity channel is used for motion blur.

Motion Blur Support

RealFlow meshes usually have unstable topology: vertices are created or removed at each frame. This causes problems with motion blur in most renderers, since this effect needs the same number of vertices in every sub-step to function correctly. The plugin tries to bypass this by using the same BIN file for all sub-frames when it detects that motion blur is enabled. The vertex positions are displaced using the velocity channel (speed) stored in the BIN file, to obtain the correct data for motion blur. When you set the “exposure” of the render too high (longer than one frame) to lengthen the blur, then this can cause the plugin to evaluate two different BIN files, resulting in visual artifacts. It is better to control the blur length using the “motion blur strength” setting than by increasing the exposure time.

MAXScript Support for "MeshLoader" Objects

"MeshLoader" objects are fully incorporated into MAXScript. The creation process and all "MeshLoader" object parameters are available through MAXScript. The properties of a "MeshLoader" object can be seen by applying the "showProperties" MAXScript command on a "MeshLoader" object. (e.g. showProperties $MeshLoader01) The following command can be used to create a "MeshLoader" object from MAXScript.

rfImportBinMesh <file:bin_filename> [<prefix:prefix> <format:value> <paddingSize:value> <start:value> <offset:value> <motionBlurStrength:value>]

The only required parameter is <file>. All the other parameters will use the default values if they are not specified in the import command.