I've asked twice for help to get particles to follow a the polygons of a canyon on the side of a mountain. All I've gotten is a number of “looks” but no responses. Does this mean that Houdini, unlike other apps like Maya and Max, doesn't have the capacity to allow particles to follow a designated mesh? Oris the question just too simple for a response?

Neither.

Houdini is capable of just about anything you could possibly imagine, but the reality is that it's not something simple for anyone to answer.

Another option that you might consider is to reference what you're trying to do from another video or something that you might have seen before, and ask how to go about achieving it.

Also, look at posting on OD Force since you might get a faster answer.

Yeah I think because there's several ways to do it, and all of them reasonably involved, it's hard to answer simply.

You can use a point cloud method to create forces that follow towards and along the mesh. Or create curves for them to follow and use POP Curve Force. Or you could project directly onto the mesh using Ray SOP or minpos in vex. Probably lots of other ways too.

Edit: Or from looking at your previous post you may want something like the attached. I basically made the pop system then added a static collider from the shelf.

Hi BaldEagleOne,

if you dont get any response on the forums its mostly

• unclear what exactly you mean
  
• quite complicated to answer
  
• too big of an ask
  

Unclear

• Vague titles and descriptions, eg a title like ‘a simple question’ says nothing
  
• Missing pictures, sketches, screenshots
  
• No HIP files attached
  

Complicated

• Deeply mathematical or computational questions
  
• Anything uncommon for the 3D industries
  

Too big asks

• “How can I create a procedural dragon, that spits fire while destroying a large city with people running away?”
  

Also re-posting, cross-posting and bumping threads is not considered polite.

I personally dont think your question is too simple. Maybe post it on odforce under ‘effects’. But make sure its clear what you mean.

'can someone make me this effect?' usually won't get a lot of answers.

Instead try posting a simple scene that demonstrates a specific problem you're having, so others can just open & (try) fixing it.

Thanks. I'll be more specific with my questions.

Here is an attachment showing what I'd like to do. Hope it is descriptive enough to get some ideas on how to tackle the problem.

Is there a way to confine particles to a mesh? I've attached an example of how I'd like to be able to get the lava to flow down the side of a volcano. The paths are just curves converted to meshes to show the flow path.

thanks.