How to use the new features in Phoenix FD 4

Phoenix FD is Chaos’s fluid dynamics software, with support for 3ds Max and Maya. It’s an easy-to-use and versatile software. It includes a powerful toolset for many different simulations. In fact, you’ll see Phoenix FD used in movies and TV series including Game of Thrones.

Chaos Phoenix FD 4 is focused on expanding its toolset for better simulation control with several new sim options for 3ds Max and Maya. To explain, sim options are “the new features give you more creative control over the rendering and better integration in the VFX ecosystem.”

Below, learn about new features in Phoenix FD 4, including Active Bodies, Standalone Preview, and Particle tuner. In addition, learn about Voxel Tuner, TexUVW, and thinkingParticles integration. Read more about these specific features on the Chaos Blog.

Active Bodies

Active bodies are new in Phoenix FD 4 and introduce basic rigid-body simulation with Phoenix liquids. Chaos plans to add great new features and a better workflow and more accessibility in future releases.

Phoenix FD 4 – Active bodies: Boat following a Trajectory

Standalone Preview

In summary, the Standalone Preview allows users to review AUR, VDB, and Field3D cache files without loading them into 3ds Max or Maya.

Particle Tuner

Get per-particle control with Particle Tuner.

Phonenix FD 4 – Particle Tuner: Affect Velocity

Particle tuner: Mix & Divide Liquids based on color

Voxel Tuner

Get finer controls over fire, smoke, RGB, and the other grid channels with Voxel Tuner. In other words, use expression operators to create custom triggering and more.

Voxel Tuner: Spawn smoke along a surface

TexUVW

Simply put, TexUVW is a way to transport UVW coordinates along moving fluid. Below, a video about adding more detail to the color and opacity of volumes.

TexUVW: Melting

thinkingParticles integration

This release introduces new operators for thinkingParticles. To summarize, these new operations create and influence tP particles based on the data from Phoenix FD simulations.

Render tP using the Particle Shader and Particle Texture

Chaos Phoenix FD

Fluid Dynamics for Artists

Phoenix FD™ is a complete solution for fluid dynamics. It is used to simulate realistic water, fire, and other effects for multiple television series such as Game of Thrones and The Flash, and is specifically designed for fast-paced production.

Phoenix FD