It quickly came to my attention that Vue has no liquid dynamics built in, so I have been looking for another peice of software to model some for me for asome time now. I know that most of the big 3d apps have some for of it or another : 3dmax, maya, blender. but Im not looking to learn a whole other modeling progam just for this. does any one know of a good liquid dynamics progam that can export a model? thanks, sam

Actually, Max, Maya and Blender cannot export a model of a liquid, either. They use particles to simulate a liquid - but this is for renders. They do not have the capability to create a mesh from the particles. Realflow does export a mesh, but it is extremely expensive, and somewhat difficult to learn. Some people who've purchased Realflow have not produced anything good, as its very technically-oriented - to the point that having a solid background in hydrology, particle physics or fluvial dynamics is a real asset for anyone attempting this program. There were some plugins being developed for MAX that did this ( produced a *max file format mesh), but I cannot locate them now - I believe that they did not come to fruition. One less expensive possibility is to look at a model-building application/program that has a metaballs capability. Truespace Version 6.6 has a relatively simple particle generation capability that can be used to generate a mesh in *.obj file format, using the LUUV plugin for Truespace. This is very limited but I used it with good effect until I reached the point of being able to purchase Realflow. So, if you were also looking to purchase a general-purpose inexpensive model-building program, this would not be a bad investment.

Can't blender, for example export to a sequence of obj's? And you could then choose only the last step of the sequence to export? Anyway, seems way too complicated to understand  Blender!  A shame, really because it is capable of so many wonderful things, and it's completely free.

A small correction.... the latest version of Maya Unlimited has some ability to convert a fluid to a polygonal object, but this is limited, and ... of course, Maya is expensive.

Attached Link: Vue backroom

I'd say it really depends on what you want to do. For a still there's many work-arounds to simulate splashing waters, waterfalls, etc - even for animations there's limited possibilities to make a waterfall looking "halfway" realistic.

Of course the best would be Realflow, as it can barely do anything else then simulating water/liquids. But its so complicated - if you dont plan spending weeks and months learning it, its of no use to even think about it.

Same for other applications - yes latest maya got some function to convert to a mesh, but do you really want to buy maya? Look at the price tag. 

Also dont start to export meshes from other programs unless you are 100% sure you can animate them in vue properly. Most likely you end up having a large model that looks good in stills and like crap in animations.

I guess the only real option left is taking a look at the vue work-arounds, theres plenty in the backroom and at other vue tutorials.

I attached a link as for some odd reasons i cant paste it here.

If that really doesnt help I'd recommend describing what you want to do more detailed and I'm sure people here will try to help you as good as they can.

Vue content creator
www.renderarmy.com

In case you are using Poser with Vue, there is a software called Weird Juice. It is a python based particle system that also uses metablobs, so you can create realistic (and animated) water flows and fointains. I used it several times and it always imported nicely into Vue.

http://www.weirdjuice3d.com

cool wierd juice seems to be the best bet here. Ill try it out. Now Im just wondering what the people who make the water falls in cornacopia use.

Well, that's mostly me, and I am a long-time Realflow user. (Also a professional forester/hydrologist who is trying to make these waterfalls as physically accurate as possible.)

But, if you'll go to http://www.expandingwave.com and look in the Water section of the Catalogue, you will find some water objects that I made with Truespace. All those shown there were made with the Truespace particle system, so - it can be done for less money than Realflow requires.

Pam, is that your website? I've always enjoyed perusing it. You spend anytime in Japan?

 

Yes, that is my website. (It is seriously in need of housecleaning, but this is what happens when you lose your hard drive.... LOL!) And 'yes', I have spent some time in Japan. But most of this comes because I had the fortunate experience to grow up in West LA during a time it was populated only (or primarily) by Japanese-Americans and African-Americans.

Great japanese models, i actually plan doing some modern japanese buildings after collecting textures on my next Tokyo vacation. Is that a Shishi Odoshii in the Garden Kit #1?  ^^

Vue content creator
www.renderarmy.com

Yes, it certainly is! You are a very knowledgable person. Not so many people will know what that is.

Awww, just one of the more remarkable japanese items that caught my interest on my last Tokyo vacation. Since i have seen it "in action" I'd always wanted one for the garden.

The waterfalls are great btw, i dont know a thing about truespace, but these are probably hard to do without much experience i guess?

I love your Washitsu, I'm totally mad about washitsus, I wish my living room was one. But sitting on tatami mats would be poison for my back...  ;)

Your shinto shrine reminds me of my Dojo model, i should add your engawa as mine is modeled very basically with vue primitives and boring textures.

Vue content creator
www.renderarmy.com

No, in Truespace, not hard to do at all. You just need a little bit of an eye for water - something most people have. In Truespace, you have an emitter, and some metablobs and you can add some simple gravity or wind. That's pretty much it. So, you just play around until you get something that takes the general shape you were hopeing for. You keep the final "water" away from the emitter object, and then save the "water" as an *.obj file. Then you do whatever you want with that. Just dink around and experiment with it. Realflow, by contrast requires you to know some fairly exact things about liquid density, atmospheric pressures, the force of gravity, various kinds of pressures (for the emitter, for internal liquid dynamics), surface tensions, and we have not even started discussing the various forces that can shape a liquid through time. Building a mesh is also another entire subject to master. The current version of Realflow (Version 4) has a more simple under-interface, one that is easier to understand. But somewhere around Version 2 and 3, I counted 1500 individual parameters to master. I believe these and more are still within Realflow, but they are organized in a better way than the earlier versions. On the other hand, if you want to build a mesh where a waterfall of certain physical properties is impacting a waterbody (pond or river or ocean) of other physical properties, and you also want a wind blowing at a certain velocity across that water body, you can't beat Realflow for its physical accuracy is constructing the splash that is occuring at the point of impact. Absolutely magnificent physical dynamics!

By the way, don't "acquire" that engawa kit on my web site. I am building another, better one at the moment.