I'm playing around a little with flip fluids and I wanted to cache a higher res simulation but I'm not quite sure how.
I want to cache the particles only, so the first and most obvious thought for me was a ROP Render Output DOP. But for some reason I can click render as much as I want, it doesn't do anything.
So, the next idea was to cache a .bgeo sequence. But caching with the ROP Render Output SOP, the caching runs just fine but it caches the static objects together with the particles, although I disabled the display of all static objects. Within the DOPnet the static objects are not displayed but changing to SOP level all of them are displayed and, as I mentioned, get cached out.

So how do I cache the particles without the static objects?

You could use the “Export To File” functionality in the DOP I/O SOP that is created by the default FLIP shelf tools, the first node in the fluid object. Untick the import of the volumes and click the render button the second tab.

Unfortunatelly I didn't use the shelf tool. My intention is to avoid the shelf tools because I wanna learn how to build a network manually.
But maybe I just take a look in the shelf tool version and see if I can rebuild that, but usually what the shelf tools create is a bit to confusing for me and difficult to pick that into it's pieces.

As a sidequestion: Why doesn't the ROP Output Driver do anything. I click on “render” but it doesn't start, why?

Korny Klown2
Unfortunatelly I didn't use the shelf tool. My intention is to avoid the shelf tools because I wanna learn how to build a network manually.
But maybe I just take a look in the shelf tool version and see if I can rebuild that, but usually what the shelf tools create is a bit to confusing for me and difficult to pick that into it's pieces.

Learning to create the networks manually is of course a great thing, but dissecting the shelf-created networks can also be very educational. So what can I say, you're clearly doing the right things! Maybe interleave the two more - when you run into a dead end, take a peek at what the shelf does. It's not cheating

As a sidequestion: Why doesn't the ROP Output Driver do anything. I click on “render” but it doesn't start, why?

I tried it quickly and it seemed to function as advertised. More info or a hip file might help.

eetu
…take a peek at what the shelf does. It's not cheating

It's not that it feels like cheating, it's rather that I'm hardly able to trace back what the shelf tool does.
I click a button and suddenly I'm confronted with a bunch of nodes and networks. I just get presented with a fait accompli, which most of the times confuses me more than it helps me.

eetu
I tried it quickly and it seemed to function as advertised. More info or a hip file might help.

I attached the file.
No comments on the scene, please It's just for practice sake and neither meant to be pretty nor great modeling.

Korny Klown2
I attached the file.
No comments on the scene, please It's just for practice sake and neither meant to be pretty nor great modeling.

It seems you've run into a restriction of the non-commercial licence. When you click it it turns red which is a sign of an error - if you middle click on it it says “Operation unavailable in Non-Commercial edition”. They tend to disallow features that would make it easy to have non-commercial licences feed production data to commercial licences, and this seems to cross the line.

Ah, that makes sense. At least I know it's not my fault.
Thanks

hi,
what you could you if you want to write the files is instead of using .sim files (which can be really huge) you can use .bgeo files. The only inconveninent is that you won't be able to resume the sim if it crashes, you must do it from frame 0 to 200.
Hope it helps

But the problem that I have is that I don't know how to write out a .bgeo sequence without the static objects, that I use for collision. Although the display for all static objects is disabled, they show up on SOP level, which is not what I want.
How do I write out a .bgeo sequence that ONLY exports the particles from the DOPnet but NOT the static objects?

DOP I/O SOP, point it to your flipobject in dops and bring in geometry. If you create a basic flip object from the shelf, it sets up a node like that for getting the renderable geometry from dops to sops.

I examined the shelf version a bit and now managed to set up a network that exports only the particles but more important than that, I think I really make progress in understanding the setup.
Thanks for the support.