Houdini 22.0 Shelf tools

Magic Trail C shelf tool

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Overview

This shelf tool sets up a particle simulation of a star shape that emits fairy dust particles and smoke using a sparse pyro simulation. It serves as a useful example of how to create, layer, and render multiple effects simultaneously within a single setup.

Important nodes

curve1

Controls the path the particles will travel along.

SWIRL_SHAPE

The nodes above this null node control the shape of the swirled lines that are twisted around the curve.

offset1

Controls the animation timing of the swirled lines along the curve. Use this node to change the length of swirled lines, the start, and duration of the animation.

popnet1

Simulates the particles moving along the spiral path.

pyrosolver2

Controls the smoke simulation emitted from the particles.

lopnet1

This network is used to the render all the layers in the particle effect.

copnet1

This network is used to composite all the layers in the particle effect.

camera1

A SOP-level camera that is used for the rendering of the particle effect.

Learning from this example

To...Do this

Change the travel time on the curve.

Change the Duration, Base Start, and Length parameters on the offset1 node to control how long it takes the particles to travel along the curve.

Increase the amount of simulated particles

The Force Total Count parameter on the scatter2 node controls the number of source points used by the particle simulation. Increasing this value generates more source points, but it will also increase simulation time.

Change particle simulation

Dive inside the popnet1 node and adjust the popwind node to change the turbulent motion of the particles.

Change the color of the particles

Use the ramp parameters on attribadjustcolor1 and attribadjustcolor2 to modify the particle colors.

Shelf tools

Using the shelf

  • Customize the shelf

    How to change the look of the shelf, change and rearrange its contents, and create your own shelf tools.

Technical