Preface
Over the last couple of years, Blender has surged in popularity due to the 2.8 release, which completely changed the user interface. Not only are thousands of people downloading Blender every day but many big studios such as EA Games, Infinity Ward, and Ubisoft have also taken notice and started using it as well. This open source, cross-platform software has everything a 3D creation suite should have. Modeling, rigging, animation, rendering, compositing, motion tracking, game creation, and what this book is all about – simulating physics – are just a taste of what can be done using Blender!
Physics simulations in 3D have become standard in movies, games, and animation. Most explosions, crashes, destruction, fire, and liquid effects are all done on the computer. In this book, we will be covering the five main simulation types in Blender, which are fluid simulation (including fire, smoke, and liquid), soft bodies, cloth, rigid bodies, and dynamic paint. We will be going through each one in detail, and there will be hands-on projects for each simulation type. By the end, you should have a good grasp of every simulation in Blender and feel confident to use them for your own Visual Effects (VFX) projects and animations!
Who this book is for
This book is for VFX artists, 3D artists, game designers, and any Blender user who wants to learn about Mantaflow and physics simulations. Readers are expected to have basic knowledge of the Blender interface and how to use it.
What this book covers
Chapter 1, An Introduction to Mantaflow, begins our journey of learning Blender simulations by taking a look at Mantaflow. You will get an understanding of the basics and what it takes to create a fire, smoke, or fluid simulation.
Chapter 2, Understanding Domains, Flows, and Effectors, gets technical. It’s hard to know exactly what each setting and value does, so in this chapter, we will cover each one in an easy-to-understand way. By the end, you will have a good grasp of what every setting does in a Mantaflow simulation.
Chapter 3, Creating a Realistic Campfire Simulation, puts your technical knowledge to the test by creating a realistic campfire simulation. Step by step, we will go through the entire process, and by the end, you will have created a really nice, satisfying campfire scene.
Chapter 4, Creating a Waterfall Using Mantaflow, takes a look at the liquid side of Mantaflow by creating a realistic waterfall scene. In this chapter, we will walk through the process of creating a waterfall, adding foam particles, and rendering the animation.
Chapter 5, Creating a Realistic Explosion, explores explosions, which are very fun and exciting but can be a bit tricky to create in Blender. That’s why, in this chapter, we will go through how to create a realistic explosion from start to finish, using particle systems, smoke simulations, and complex materials!
Chapter 6, Getting Started with Soft Bodies, examines soft body simulation, which allows you to deform your object in a soft and organic way. In this chapter, we will cover everything there is to know about the soft body simulation and all its settings and values.
Chapter 7, Creating a Soft Body Obstacle Course, covers creating an obstacle course for a soft body sphere to go through. We will cover collisions, cloth, soft bodies, goals, glass materials, and more. Then, we will render the animation in Eevee.
Chapter 8, Introduction to the Cloth Simulations, delves into cloth simulation in Blender and how to use it effectively and efficiently. We will discuss each setting and value with screenshots and images so that it’s easy to understand.
Chapter 9, Creating a Realistic Flag, looks at creating an animation using cloth simulation, and what better way than to create a flag? In this chapter, we walk you through the process of creating a realistic flag, from adding the flagpole to attaching the rope to creating a fabric material.
Chapter 10, An Introduction to Rigid Bodies, explores rigid bodies, which allow you to simulate physics while not deforming your object. In this chapter, we will discover how to use this simulation, how to work with constraints, and learn all of the settings and values that come with it.
Chapter 11, Creating a Rigid Body Physics Course, covers rigid body simulation in a practical way by creating a physics-based obstacle course in Blender. We will learn how to create a domino effect, creates an elevator using constraints, simulate thousands of cubes all at once, and much more in this chapter.
Chapter 12, Introduction to Dynamic Paint, delves into dynamic paint in Blender. Dynamic paint is a way to simulate the behavior of brushes and canvases. This can be used to create colormaps, displacement, weight, and waves.
Chapter 13, Creating a Paint Brush Effect, looks at using dynamic paint in Blender to create a paintbrush effect! We will start by animating a brush following a curve, creating a hair particle system, simulating dynamic paint, and creating the materials.
Chapter 14, Creating a Raindrop Effect, shows you how to create a raindrop effect using particles and dynamic paint. We will first create a nice lake scene, adding in rain particles, simulating ripples, and creating water materials!
To get the most out of this book
You will need at least Blender 3.0 installed on your computer. It is, however, recommended to have the most up-to-date version of Blender, as some of the later chapters were written in 3.3.
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Software/hardware covered in the book |
Operating system requirements |
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Blender 3.0+ |
Windows, macOS, or Linux |
Basic knowledge of Blender and its interface is recommended, as this will help you to follow along with the projects.
Download the supporting files
You can download the supporting files for this book from GitHub at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Learn-Blender-Simulations-the-Right-Way. If there're any updates to the files, they will be updated in the GitHub repository.
Download the color images
We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots and diagrams used in this book. You can download it here: https://packt.link/gEo3u.
Conventions used
There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.
Code in text: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: “To start out with, make sure to download the Raindrop Effect Startup.blend file.”
Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see on screen. For instance, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in bold. Here is an example: “Switch Coordinates to Object, and in the Object menu, select Empty.”
Tips or Important Notes
Appear like this.
Get in touch
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