Simulations are hard to understand because of the complicated math that must be used. I found a resource from the SIGGRAPH site to guide me through this new world:
However, the resources are a bit too abstract for my taste. They leave a lot to be desired because each ‘course’ glosses over the subject.
In order to speed up the process and make something - I figured I’d learn Houdini to simulate fluids. The software can help me prototype simulations before coding them.
After watching some videos on YouTube about Houdini and the predefined and provided tools, which are called ‘Shelf Tools’, I felt more comfortable with the software. Here are the videos:
Finally, I found my muse - it’s soft ice cream… that seemed like a fun thing to try and simulate.
The first thing I did was to model a cone in Blender:
After hours of work… and a rendering that lasted 40 hours… the result was a bit… hilarious.
Well, this is my first Houdini simulation… nevertheless, if I had to do it again, I would like to reduce the amount of viscosity to create a more fluid effect.