In fact, the importer tool consists of three elements:
The plugin's user interface provides everything you need to get started and to specify the SD file's path. The plugin itself only loads the objects, while their animation data is controlled separately.
Once the SD file has been processed, a new node appears in Cinema 4D's “Objects Manager”. It carries the name of the loaded SD file, e.g. “animation.sd Reader”. The group node's parameters can be seen as global settings, affecting all imported objects.
Under the previously mentioned group you will find the imported objects and each one has an “[...] Animation” node attached. The tag's name consists of the imported node's name and an “Animation” suffix. Here, you can make settings on a per-node basis.
The plugin is launched from Cinema 4D's menu bar:
Plugins > RealFlow > RealFlow SD Importer
Now, a window appears providing several input fields and options:
[ Image: SD Importer UI ]
If you have read the plugins introduction you can see that the work with the importer plugin requires an existing RealFlow simulation. The objects in this simulation can either be static or moving. Static objects are passive rigid bodies or just obstacles colliding with fluids. Aside from “traditional” objects, there are two more node types which can be loaded with the “RealFlow SD Importer”:
A RealWave surface is a displaced mesh consisting of vertices and polygons. If you want to import a RealWave node please activate its “Surface deformation (.sd)” export resource in RealFlow's “Export Central”.
Camera data is stored in a separate SD file, and this option has to be activated in RealFlow's “Export Central” dialogue similar to RealWave meshes.
If you have exported camera data the corresponding SD file has to be put into the “Camera” slot with the “...” button. For polygon objects, the workflow is exactly the same, but please do not swap them, because otherwise no data will be loaded. All you have to do now, is to click on “Import” and the objects will be recreated from the SD file. Imported objects are triangulated and contain UV information.
Of course, there are more options with this plugin, and they are discussed separately in the following sections of this chapter.
Supported File Formats
The “RealFlow SD Importer” can only read and process RealFlow's native SD files.