O'Reilly logo

Stay ahead with the world's most comprehensive technology and business learning platform.

With Safari, you learn the way you learn best. Get unlimited access to videos, live online training, learning paths, books, tutorials, and more.

Start Free Trial

No credit card required

Bounce, Tumble, and Splash!: Simulating the Physical World with Blender 3D

Bounce, Tumble, and Splash!: Simulating the Physical World with Blender 3D

by Erwin Coumans, Tony Mullen
Publisher: Sybex
Release Date: June 2008
ISBN: 9780470192801
View table of contents
Start reading

Book Description

Learn all about Blender, the premier open-source 3D software, in Bounce, Tumble, and Splash!: Simulating the Physical World with Blender 3D. You will find step-by-step instructions for using Blender’s complex features and full-color visual examples with detailed descriptions of the processes. If you’re an advanced Blender user, you will appreciate the sophisticated coverage of Blender’s fluid simulation system, a review Blender’s latest features, and a guide to the Bullet physics engine, which handles a variety of physics simulations such as rigid body dynamics and rag doll physics.

Table of Contents

  1. Copyright
  2. Dear Reader,
  3. Acknowledgments
  4. About the Author
  5. Foreword
  6. Introduction
    1. Who Should Read This Book
    2. What You Will Learn from This Book
    3. How to Use This Book
    4. Hardware and Software Considerations
    5. How This Book Is Organized
    6. What's on the CD
    7. How to Contact the Author
  7. 1. Re-creating the World: An Overview
    1. 1.1. Re-creating the Physical World with Blender
      1. 1.1.1. Blender's Physical Simulation Functionality
      2. 1.1.2. The Science of Simulation
      3. 1.1.3. Nonsimulation Tools and Techniques
    2. 1.2. Using Materials and Textures
      1. 1.2.1. Hot Lava with Material Nodes
      2. 1.2.2. Transparency and Subsurface Scattering
        1. 1.2.2.1. Transparent Shadows
        2. 1.2.2.2. Subsurface Scattering
      3. 1.2.3. Sky Maps
    3. 1.3. Faking Physics with General Tools
      1. 1.3.1. Modeling Bodies of Water by Using Modifiers and Textures
      2. 1.3.2. Faking a Cloth Flag by Using a Displacement Modifier
      3. 1.3.3. Creating a Poseable Spring by Using an Array Modifier, Shape Keys, and PyDrivers
        1. 1.3.3.1. Modeling the Spring Mesh
        2. 1.3.3.2. Setting Up the Shape Keys
        3. 1.3.3.3. Rigging the Spring
        4. 1.3.3.4. Setting Up a PyDriver
  8. 2. The Nitty-Gritty on Particles
    1. 2.1. Introducing Particles
      1. 2.1.1. Setting Particle Parameters
        1. 2.1.1.1. Particle System Tab
        2. 2.1.1.2. Baking
      2. 2.1.2. Using the Physics Tab
        1. 2.1.2.1. Newtonian Physics
        2. 2.1.2.2. Keyed Physics
        3. 2.1.2.3. Other Physics Options
      3. 2.1.3. Setting Visualization Options
      4. 2.1.4. Using the Extras Tab
      5. 2.1.5. Using Force Fields and Deflection
        1. 2.1.5.1. Force Fields
        2. 2.1.5.2. Deflection
    2. 2.2. Working with Dynamic Particles
      1. 2.2.1. Creating Fire and Smoke
      2. 2.2.2. The BB vs. the Crystal Ball: Using the Explode Modifier
    3. 2.3. Boids!
      1. 2.3.1. Setting Up the Boids System
      2. 2.3.2. Working with Goals and Predators
      3. 2.3.3. Creating a Simple Flying Bird
  9. 3. Getting Flexible with Soft Bodies and Cloth
    1. 3.1. Getting the Hard Facts on Soft Bodies
      1. 3.1.1. Understanding Soft Body Basics
      2. 3.1.2. Baking
      3. 3.1.3. Animating a Spring with Soft Bodies
      4. 3.1.4. Using Force Fields and Collision
      5. 3.1.5. Working with Soft Bodies and Curves
      6. 3.1.6. Using Stress-Mapped Textures for Rubbery Surfaces
    2. 3.2. Getting Jiggly with Lattices
    3. 3.3. Simulating Cloth and Clothing
      1. 3.3.1. Putting Some Clothes on Mancandy
      2. 3.3.2. Learning More about Cloth
    4. 3.4. Demolition!
  10. 4. Hair Essentials: The Long and Short of Strand Particless
    1. 4.1. Introducing Blender Hair
      1. 4.1.1. Setting Up a Hair Simulation
      2. 4.1.2. Creating Clumping, Roughness, and Kink
      3. 4.1.3. Texture Mapping
      4. 4.1.4. Lighting and Rendering
    2. 4.2. A Trip to the Beauty Salon
      1. 4.2.1. Preparing the Mesh
      2. 4.2.2. Editing Hair Particles
      3. 4.2.3. Releasing Your Inner Hairdresser
      4. 4.2.4. More Tips and Tricks for Controlling Hair
        1. 4.2.4.1. Controlling Particle Attributes with Textures
        2. 4.2.4.2. X-Axis Mirroring
        3. 4.2.4.3. Parting Hair with Mesh Seams
      5. 4.2.5. Soft Bodies and Hair
    3. 4.3. Other Uses for "Hair" Particles
  11. 5. Making a Splash with Fluids
    1. 5.1. Using the Blender Fluid Simulator
      1. 5.1.1. Getting Started with Fluids
        1. 5.1.1.1. Multiple Fluid Objects
        2. 5.1.1.2. Init Volume, Init Shell, and Init Both
        3. 5.1.1.3. Viscosity, Stickiness, and Compressibility
      2. 5.1.2. Inflow and Outflow
      3. 5.1.3. Time, Size, and Resolution
        1. 5.1.3.1. Starting and Ending
        2. 5.1.3.2. Real-World Size
        3. 5.1.3.3. Resolution
      4. 5.1.4. Particles
        1. 5.1.4.1. Particle Splash
        2. 5.1.4.2. Particle Haze
      5. 5.1.5. Obstacles and Animation
      6. 5.1.6. Animated Obstacles
      7. 5.1.7. Getting the Shot
      8. 5.1.8. Strawberries and Milk
        1. 5.1.8.1. Materials and Textures
        2. 5.1.8.2. Fluid Settings
      9. 5.1.9. Bottle of Pop
      10. 5.1.10. Rushing Creek
    2. 5.2. Delving Further into Fluids
      1. 5.2.1. Ipo Animation
      2. 5.2.2. Scripts and Exporting
    3. 5.3. Exploring Further Resources
  12. 6. Bullet Physics and the Blender Game Engine
    1. 6.1. The Blender Game Engine
      1. 6.1.1. Getting Started with BGE
      2. 6.1.2. Using Ipos and Actions in BGE
    2. 6.2. Rigid Body Simulation and Ipos
      1. 6.2.1. Baking Game Ipos
      2. 6.2.2. Frame Rate and Simulation Speed
      3. 6.2.3. Ctrl+Alt+Shift+P
      4. 6.2.4. Actor Parameters, Boundaries, and Hull Types
      5. 6.2.5. Collision Boundary Types
        1. 6.2.5.1. Example: Glass and Ball
      6. 6.2.6. General Tips on Working with Bullet
      7. 6.2.7. Adjusting Simulation Quality with Python
        1. 6.2.7.1. Using Physics Visualization
    3. 6.3. Joints, Ragdolls, and Robots
      1. 6.3.1. Using Rigid Body Joint Constraints
      2. 6.3.2. Using Generic (6DoF) Joints
      3. 6.3.3. Setting Up a Ragdoll Armature
      4. 6.3.4. Controlling an Armature
      5. 6.3.5. A Passive-Walking Robot
    4. 6.4. Further Resources
  13. 7. Imitation of Life: Simulating Trees and Plants
    1. 7.1. The Blender Greenhouse: Creating Foliage with L-Systems and ngPlant
      1. 7.1.1. L-Systems
        1. 7.1.1.1. Setting Parameters
        2. 7.1.1.2. Creating a Tree
      2. 7.1.2. ngPlant
        1. 7.1.2.1. Interface Overview
        2. 7.1.2.2. Creating a Palm Tree in ngPlant
      3. 7.1.3. Other Software
    2. 7.2. An Open Source Ivy Generator
    3. 7.3. A Few More Points to Mention
      1. 7.3.1. Tips for Creating an Outdoor Scene
      2. 7.3.2. The Importance of Observation
  14. A. About the Companion CD
    1. A.1. What You'll Find on the CD
      1. A.1.1. Chapter Files
      2. A.1.2. Blender 2.46 Software
    2. A.2. System Requirements
    3. A.3. Using the CD
    4. A.4. Troubleshooting
      1. A.4.1. Customer Care