Create Whitewater on FLIP Fluids using Houdini's Shelf Tool very easily with a few mouse clicks!  

Download Project File:

https://bubblepins.com/blog/flip-sim-amp-whitewater-houdini-shelf-tool-quick-tip

"set_density" Explained here:

https://bubblepins.com/blog/setdensity-deep-dive-into-the-math-behind-it


Volume Material Video | Redshift Volume Materials for Beginners

https://youtu.be/BjSCRKJ6uGQ



CREATED BY

bubblepins
BUBBLE PINS

Transitioning from a coder to a 3D artist. Houdini was the best option for me after I explored a different number of 3D software applications. I love the procedural workflow in Houdini and how easily accessible the attributes of the geometry are available to the user. This makes it a lot easier to focus on creating a good render and less time wasted on trying to figure out how to access certain geometry points or edges.

More from bubble pins

COMMENTS

  • AjexJose 4 years, 10 months ago  | 

    hey when i do whitewater for houdini 18 by selecting the fluid object in DOP network it says error "no fluid object selected for whitewater".
    Please help me out of this.

    • bubblepins 4 years, 10 months ago  | 

      Hi, It's super important that you follow this order:

      Click Whitewater Shelf Tool
      Then On the Network panel, go to the FLIP Object (the one inside the dopnet!!!!) Select This now!
      Then hover mouse over to 3D view port, then press enter.

      Try watching this part in the video (the link is timestamped to exactly where this begins).
      https://youtu.be/O0JmpFOOXXI?t=77

      In the video, I navigate to INSIDE the dopnet, then the mouse is put over 3D viewport. Then Enter.

      It is a little weird, but the Shelf tool is very sensitive.
      Hope this helps!

  • zakattack321 4 years, 8 months ago  | 

    @bubblepins I'm havin the same exact issue, doin what is bein done in the video, but still havin that error message pop up :(

  • zakattack321 4 years, 8 months ago  | 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9HT7uiTiFI

    Here's a link of my issue

    • bubblepins 4 years, 8 months ago  | 

      Thanks for the video, a picture is worth a thousand words. I used a flipfluid object, the one in my video is a flip object.

      Fluid Object vs Flip Fluid Object
      A Fluid object is sourced from Fluid source node which is an older node that was meant for pyro & flip fluids stuff, probably because pyro and fluid move very similar. But in the later versions of Houdini, they now use Flip Fluid object sourced from Flip source, which creates a lot of particles. I think particles is like now what Houdini will use as like the go-to thing for most sims, because particles' movements are useful for all kinds of sims.

      Try switching the object to flip fluid object and see if it works.

      • zakattack321 4 years, 8 months ago  | 

        It is a flip object? im sorry i'm still not understanding.

        • zakattack321 4 years, 8 months ago  | 

          This is in houdini 18 as well

          • bubblepins 4 years, 8 months ago  | 

            Houdini has a "flip object" and a "flip fluid object". It's actually two different nodes. In the node network & inside the dopnet when you hit tab, type "flip fluid". Do not pick the flip object. It happened to me before too, I get mixed up between the two, because of the close names they have. But they do function differently.

          • bubblepins 4 years, 8 months ago  | 

            I also had a typo in my last message:

            "Thanks for the video, a picture is worth a thousand words. I used a flipfluid object, the one in THE video is a flip object."

            I meant to say THE video, not MY video.

            • zakattack321 4 years, 8 months ago  | 

              I double checked my node and it is indeed a flip fluid object? I even pressed help on it and it took me to this.

              https://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini/nodes/dop/flipobject.html

              Also when pressing tab and typin flip all i'm seein is the flip object node, Flip configure object, and flip solver.
              I'm sorry but I'm still stuck ? :(

              • bubblepins 4 years, 8 months ago  | 

                This might be a silly question, but I think I'll try asking because I'm running out of ideas ... Have you tried clicking the 3D viewport after you hover over it? I do notice that sometimes Houdini doesn't automatically focus to the 3D viewport. After you click the white water shelf tool, then you left click the flip object, then you hover the mouse over to the 3D viewport (usually that's enough to make Houdini give focus to the 3D viewport), however I suspect that the hovering isn't enough, try right clicking the 3D viewport, just to force it to give it focus to the 3D viewport then press enter.

                • zakattack321 4 years, 8 months ago  | 

                  Nothin silly about askin :) yes i tried that, and still not workin

                  • bubblepins 4 years, 8 months ago  | 

                    How about ALT left click 3D viewport and then enter? LOL I still kind of think it's a focus issue.

  • tuxnat13 4 years, 5 months ago  | 

    Hi, could you please explain where you add in the volume material (in Mantra) to get the density node to work? It seems to be something missing from a lot of tutorials. I keep doing tutorials but my white water shows up very very faint. I assume it's something to do with this?
    Thank you

    • bubblepins 4 years, 5 months ago  | 

      I think I know what the issue is, try pumping up the density in the whitewater material in mantra. But first I want to confirm, are you using the shelf tool to create the whitewater, shown in the video? If so, the shelf tool automatically creates a whitewater Mantra material.

      And that whitewater Mantra material has a density parameter, pump that up really high. The default value is 1, try 10, then try 100, or even 1000 and see if you get better results in the render.

  • bib 3 years, 10 months ago  | 

    Hi,

    i had the same issue with my flip object, it seems working fine when the dopnet is built in the obj context and not in sop context..

    thanks for this tutorial!

  • p4vv37 3 years, 5 months ago  | 

    I found a source of my problems with "no fluid object selected for whitewater"
    I was clicking on 3D viewport after selecting the FLIP Object.
    Clicking on object in network view then only hovering a mouse over 3D view (without clicking) and pressing enter works.

    Maybe someone will find it helpful.
    https://www.sidefx.com/forum/topic/79742/?page=1#post-342633

  • srcare 3 years, 3 months ago  | 

    Hey everyone, for those of you receiving the "no fluid object selected for whitewater" message, it may because you are trying to add white water to a frame prior to the FLIP simulation beginning. Run a frame of your SIM and then try the method shown in bubblepins great video. I was receiving this message when clicking the shelf tool at frame 1, but it worked when clicking it once I reached the frame my sim's cache started at.

    • bubblepins 3 years, 3 months ago  | 

      Thanks srcare! Your advise is going to help a lot of people!

  • shim95813 1 year, 7 months ago  | 

    why in my shelf canot find flip fluid

  • Cameron W 1 year, 5 months ago  | 

    Hi people. I was having the same problem " "no fluid object selected for whitewater"
    Then I realized that it was failing because i had built my flip simulation in a dopnet WITHIN a geometry node. That is, not on the top level - the OBJ level, which is typically where Houdini will default to setting up an AutoDopNetwork if you work from the shelf.

Please log in to leave a comment.