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664 Chapter 12: Animation
control and simulate complex physical scenes with
ease. reactor suppor ts fully integrated r igid and
soft-body dynamics, cloth simulation, and fluid
simulation.
Objects and Space Warps Used to Create
Dynamics Simulations
A very basic simulation would involve creating a
sphere and a gravity space warp, adding the sphere
to a new simulation, assigning gravity as an effect
onthesphereandsolvingthesimulation. The
resultisthatthespherefallsundertheforceof
grav ity.
Yo u c a n u s e
dynamics objects (page 1–372) ,
dynamics space warp deflectors (
PDynaFlect
(page 2–77)
, SDynaFlect (page 2–81) ,and
UDynaFlect (page 2–82) ), and space warp forces
such as
Gravit y (page 2–69) and Wind (page 2–71)
to add complexity to a simulation. You can use a
particle stream from a particle emitter as a force
on an object: the particles can collide with and be
deflectedbytheobject,aswellasmoveit.Youcan
attach special dynamics objects to objects, such
as
Spring (page 1–376) to simulate the effects of
aspring.
You can combine effects: Wind, gravity, a spring
object, collision, particle deflection and collision,
as well as surface properties such as fric tion, can
allworkonanobjectinasimulation. Forafull
understanding of what dynamics can do, explore
this topic and areas of 3ds Max that pertain to
dynamics.
Dynamics-Specific Areas in 3ds Max
The Dyn am ics Utility (this topic)
The Dynamics Utility is the main control center for
dynamics simulations. You specify w h ich objects
are used in the simulation, w hat their interactiv ity
is with each other a nd with the effects in the scene.
Thesimulationisthen"solved,"generatingthe
keyframes.
The effects of collisions between objects depend
on the velocity of the objects and their properties.
For collision to work between two objects, each
object must have the other object assigned for
collision. F or example, when bouncing a ball, both
thefloorandtheballareassignedcollisions.
The Mater i al Editor: The
Dynamics Properties
rollout (page 2–1320)
in the Material Editor lets
youassignthedynamicspropertiestothesurface
of an object, like friction and bounce. Using a
multi/sub-object material, you can have different
surface properties at the face level of any object.
Note: You can override material surface dynamic
properties with controls on the
Edit Object dialog
(page 2–673)
in the Dynamics utility.
Dy namics Objects, Par ticles and Dy namics,
Dynamics Inter face: Special objects like Spring
and Damper, Space Warp forces like Gravit y
and Wind, as well as Space War p deflectors
like PDynaFlect can all influence a dynamics
simulation. You must create these objects and
space war ps first in other areas of 3ds Max before
you can use them in a dy namics simulation. See
the following topics for details on their creation
and u se:
•Createpanel>Geometry>
Dynamics Objects
(page 1–372)
You can use the Spring and Damper objects for
dynamics effects.
•Createpanel>
Space Warps (page 2–51) >
Particles and Dynamics.
Effects (forces) are special space-warp objects
that emulate natural phenomena, such as wind
or gravity. In a dynamics simulation, you must
placegravityinthesceneifyouwanttheobjects
in your simulation to fall.
•Createpanel>
Space Warps (page 2–51) >
Dynamics Interface.