Migrating from Softwares

My initial Wave video (included in portfolio) was made by exporting from a camera within the Arnold renderer within Maya. I exported it as an .EXR file and played back 150 frames of liquid simulation from a 2D render, placed this in an After Effects timeline and exported that as an H.264 MP4 video file.

A render frame using the Arnold Renderer exported and placed in an After Effects timeline.

I then decided to try and migrate my 3D models from Maya to Houdini to show exporting a 3D object rather than a 2D render. I did this by exporting my Mech in Maya as an .OBJ file which exported seamlessly into Houdini.

My mech model in Maya where it was created.

I placed the .OBJ export from Maya in the Houdini project folder then imported it.

 This is the Mech OBJ file imported into Houdini.

I then decided I would try to recreate my Wave Machine in Houdini by exporting my basin without any water as an OBJ.

The Wave Machine in Maya where it was created.

The newly imported Wave Machine in Houdini.

This export was a failure because I had hidden objects in my Maya scene that weren't directly changeable in Houdini after the export. As such, I deleted those objects as well as the water particles in Maya so that I could instead learn to use the fluid simulation within Houdini.

The updated Maya export, with water and hidden objects removed.

 Wave Machine 2nd attempt in Houdini.

A collision error I tried to solve in Houdini.

After working with Houdini, I came across a number of issues trying to replicate my Maya project. I initially had collision issues which I resolved but then found an issue with the water particles seemingly disappearing or decay with no explanation, I tried searching online for help but nothing seemed to work. The attempt at using Houdini and understanding how to export OBJ files was a success, as I now have an understanding of polygon modeling and a base level knowledge of fluid simulations and collisions, however the attempt to recreate my Wave Machine to a final render was not successful as I couldn't maintain the fluid long enough to set up a wave maker.

 The blue cube shows the collision area of the fluid early in the simulation.

Further in the simulation the box is far smaller as the fluid has gone missing for whatever reason. It did not fall through the basin, it did not splash over the edges.

The final node tree within the Houdini project file, each of these has their own sub-tree that completes its own processes.

This is the sub-tree for the AutoDopNetwork node, showing the individual processes involved in producing a fluid simulation. Each of these has its own set of parameters you can change and reset in order to change the dynamics of the fluid simulation.