Kelp Forest

Inspired by underwater photography of kelp forests, this complex scene utilizes POP Networks for the schools of fish and a Vellum cloth simulation for the kelp forest.

Two versions of the kelp stalks were created in Houdini, simulated, and then cached out. The resulting cloth simulations were read back into the file and distributed and randomized using copy nodes. The school of fish follows a POP curve node with flocking behavior applied.