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Weekly development notes #6

Weekly Development Notes #6 – The most important documentation topics

Ryan Guy 3. February 2020 0 Comments

Covering the week of January 27th – 31st, 2020.

Hey everyone, this is Ryan with the week #6 development update for the FLIP Fluids addon for Blender!

New Documentation: The Most Important Documentation Topics

Don’t know where to start in the wiki? Our wiki now has a collection of our most recommended topics to help you learn how to use the FLIP Fluids simulator effectively.

This new section can be found on the homepage of the wiki/documentation: FLIP Fluids Documentation and Wiki.

How large should I make my domain object?A domain that fits as tight as possible around your fluid effect maximizes detail and performance.
Why is manifold geometry important?For objects to work correctly within the simulator, their geometry must be manifold/closed/watertight.
The Importance of ScaleSetting an appropriate scale will ensure that your fluid moves at realistic speeds and can make the difference between simulating a small mug of coffee and a large section of a beach.
Containing Fluid Inside of an ObjectEasily contain fluid inside of an object using our Obstacle Inverse Workflow.
Simulation baking is taking too long to compute!Tips for optimizing your simulation set up to improve performance.
How to debug problems with obstaclesThe first tip in this article/video will teach you how the FLIP Fluids debugging tools can be used to diagnose issues with your obstacle objects.
What are substeps?Fluid simulations are calculated by taking small steps through time. The smaller the timestep, the more accurate the simulation. Sometimes multiple substeps/timesteps during a frame are needed.
What is the PIC/FLIP Ratio?Take a look at the documentation for the PIC/FLIP Ratio, an interesting setting that has applications in faking viscosity and dampening fluid motion.
What does the Inflow Constrain Fluid Velocity option do?A powerful Inflow option that has applications in slowing down inflow emission, pushing around fluid when submerged, or filling up a tank when submerged.
How to export to Alembic (.abc) for render farmsNot all render farms support the FLIP Fluids addon. Here is how to export the FLIP Fluids simulation to the Alembic format for use on render farms.
Rendering from the Command LineAre you rendering a huge simulation? Rendering from the command line is the quickest and most stable way to render massive animations in Blender, and it’s easier than you may think!

New Blender Market Product Page!

This is the first redesign of the Blender Market product page since our release in May 2018, and it was long overdue. Since initial release, we learned a lot about what you want in a simulation system and we also learned a lot about ourselves and our priorities in development.

This new product page design aims to better highlight the strengths of the FLIP Fluids addon and help answer the frequently asked question: what is the benefit of using the FLIP Fluids addon over the built-in Elbeem and Mantaflow simulation systems?

I have seen so many comments online from our users recommending the FLIP Fluids addon to others and explaining how it has improved their simulation workflow, and much of the new product page content is centered around these positive workflow improvements. The previous page design was lacking information in this area and the only way to find out about these improvements were to try it for yourself or through word-of-mouth.

Why choose FLIP Fluids?

Fluid simulation software can be intimidating, complex, and difficult to work with, but it does not need to be. We believe that usability should come first when designing a simulation tool. A simulator might contain the most advanced technology in the world, but if it is not usable, reliable, and flexible, it will not be a tool that is useful or enjoyable to the artist.

Our goal is to improve on many aspects of the built-in Blender fluid simulator such as usability, stability, customization, and to prevent common problems that we see artists encounter when working with simulation systems. We want to provide you with the tools, learning resources, and workflows to assist you in creating beautiful effects as quickly and as painlessly as possible.

Excerpt from the FLIP Fluids Product Page

Check out our new product page design here: https://blendermarket.com/products/flipfluids

Are you working on your own product page? The Blender Market blog has these articles with some great tips: