Hello, I don't know what would be the right term so I'll try to explain what I'd like to do, it's similar this tutorial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChMOi34MKag [www.youtube.com]

Where spheres are attached to a moving surface, but they are static,

I'd like to make the spheres to move along the surface.

And I'd like to use different objects/geometry to move along surface.

Is there a name for this type of animation/effect?

And any tutorials?

Hi,

This is very easy to do. Have particles move however you want and then project them back onto the surface using xyzdist VEX function [www.sidefx.com] so they can't leave the surface.

The forces and velocities should be small enough so they don't appear jumping across different parts of the geo, or you need to use a lot of substeps.

If you want even more predicable results, make sure to have your velocities tangent to the surface by removing the normal component.

animatrix_
Hi,

This is very easy to do. Have particles move however you want and then project them back onto the surface using xyzdist VEX function [www.sidefx.com] so they can't leave the surface.

The forces and velocities should be small enough so they don't appear jumping across different parts of the geo, or you need to use a lot of substeps.

If you want even more predicable results, make sure to have your velocities tangent to the surface by removing the normal component.

I'd still have to animate the particles... But I can make it procedural, which is close to what I was looking for, I don't know how but I think I can figure that.

Alright! I'll check that function and make some tests!

Thanks!

Download qLib set of otl's for Houdini for expression's in POP's.