Fuel Flow Simulation ...

# 1 23-07-2008 , 10:06 AM

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Join Date: Dec 2007

Posts: 124

I need to illustrate fuel flowing through a CG engine cut-away. We do some animation here on a small scale. Usually pretty basic stuff, nothing very complicated. This, however, I believe will be a real challenge. I'm going to need a crash coarse in fluid effects. I'm currently using 2008 Complete. I realize I'll have to upgrade to Unlimited. What am I getting myself into here. I have about 4 weeks to educate myself in this type of effect. I have a pretty good grasp of Maya but have never used its fluid capabilities. Any resources out there that may take some of the pain out of this? Think along the lines of a fuel injection system simulation. HELP !!!

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# 2 23-07-2008 , 08:29 PM

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Join Date: Sep 2002

Location: Minnesota, USA

Posts: 3,709

Sorry to burst your bubble, but Fluids would be overkill for this situation and would not look realistic for a fuel injection system spray.

I would suggest simply using streak, or multi-streak particle renderTypes on a flow path instead.

Fluids are great for billowing gas, or NON- aerosolised simulations.
Fluids also take an extremely long time to simulate and render depending on what you are trying to achieve and the raw horsepower of your machine and/or renderfarm.

So, in this case I would suggest drawing a spline path from point A to point B where you would like your spray particles to go, and use that path as a Particle Flow Path.
(See the help for Flow path setup details)

Let us know if that made any sense user added image

Israel "Izzy" Long
Motion and Title Design for Broadcast-Film-DS
izzylong.com

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# 3 24-07-2008 , 07:49 AM

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Thanks for your reply. I've posted this problem on various other CG sites with the hope of getting exactly this type of response. Your approach makes a lot of sense. Can I accomplish all this with Maya Unlimited? Its been suggested, on other forums, that I try RealFlow. I've never used that particular program and it sounds like it may be heavy on the "code" side. Thats not one of my strengths, unfortunately. We're not a engineering shop, this is primarily a creative weighted studio. Usually when we encounter projects that require complicated engineering solutions we out-source that work. The time constraints and budget require us to keep this in-house. So I'm going to grope along and solve this as best I can. Any suggestions, like the one you supplied, would certainly ease the pain and be greatly appreciated. I really like your posted suggestion. That is a strong option at this point. As for bubble bursting ... there never was a bubble. There is, however, a piano on a string right above my desk. And it throws a pretty big shadow !!!

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# 4 24-07-2008 , 10:13 AM

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Join Date: Sep 2002

Location: Minnesota, USA

Posts: 3,709

Originally posted by mtcgs
Thanks for your reply. I've posted this problem on various other CG sites with the hope of getting exactly this type of response. Your approach makes a lot of sense.

Originally Posted by

Thank you very much for your kind words, and we hope you hang around as a member for a long time user added image

Can I accomplish all this with Maya Unlimited?

Originally Posted by

Yes you can user added image

You can even do it using Complete as well.
All you need is one particle object for your fuel, and as many emitters as you need to simulate your injectors.
Then, have the single particle object emit from all the emitters, and use Curve Flow to make the particle spray follow the path you wish user added image

Its been suggested, on other forums, that I try RealFlow.

Originally Posted by

As with Maya Fluids, Realflow would be overkill for this situation.
So unless you want a river of fuel flowing through your engine, then stick to basic Streak/MultiStreak hardware particle renderTypes within Maya user added image

There is, however, a piano on a string right above my desk. And it throws a pretty big shadow !!!

Originally Posted by

Wow, you have it easy! I have 2 ninjas poised ready to strike the moment I even THINK of going out for a simple smoke break, hehe..

PS: For detailed help, and a small tutorial regarding using Curve Flow, check the help here:

HELP:
Using Maya > Dynamics and Effects > Dynamics > Effects

In there are 2 pages to look at:

Curve Flow and the Create Curve Flow tutorial user added image

Good luck!

Israel "Izzy" Long
Motion and Title Design for Broadcast-Film-DS
izzylong.com

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Fuel Flow Simulation ...

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