LW - Rendering Fluid Meshes

Owned by thomas (Unlicensed)
Last updated: 25 Jun, 2013
2 min read

This example shows a basic approach to render RealFlow meshes by creating a custom textured surface. It describes a setup that is able to render two fluids.

  • Import the mesh sequence into LightWave "Layout". The imported mesh object contains a weight map for each fluid which represents the contribution of the fluid by every vertex. These vertex maps make it possible to render complex, multi-type fluids.

 

Mesh loaded in the "Layout" viewport.


  • Open the "Surface Editor" from the menu or with F5.
  • Select the mesh’s "Default surface" and click on the "T" button next to the "Color" parameter to open the "Texture Editor".

 

The "Surface Editor"

 

  • Add a Gradient type layer for every fluid with the "Add Layer" combo box.
  • Select the first layer and set the "Input Parameter" field to "Weight Map".
  • Select the weight map from the list which belongs to the fluid. The texture weight maps from the RealFlow mesh file are generated with the name of "[object_name]_txw[fluid_index]".

 

Adjusting the gradient in the "Texture Editor".

 

  • You can control the layer’s alpha value with the weight map. To do this, you need two keys – one for the start and one for the end position. The start is present so you need to add a new key and move it to the end position.
  • Select the key on the end position and set the "Alpha" value to 0.0%.
  • Set the required color.

 

Gradient for blending meshes.

 

  • Repeat the previous steps for the second layer.
  • Click on the "Use Texture" button.
  • Render the current frame or the whole scene on the "Render" tab or by pressing F9 or F10.

 

The result.