Mastering WaterFX in Houdini – Plane Crash Effect

Are you a Houdini beginner? Have you ever struggled with simulating water or don’t even know where to start? Do you want to create simulations like the one in the promo video?

What This Course Offers

In this course, we will guide you through creating this simulation and render from scratch!

Embark on a journey through the world of FLIP simulations, starting from the very basics. We will explain every parameter and compare multiple simulations with different values, so you can understand the function of each parameter and how it affects the final result. After completing the Helicopter crash in the water simulation, we will use advanced techniques to simulate an explosive wave and integrate it with the crash to achieve a stunning outcome. By the end of this course, you’ll be able to create your own complex, large-scale simulations, simulate and control whitewater, and render a highly realistic scene to enhance your showreel.

Note: This course uses Houdini 18, but the techniques can be applied similarly in Houdini 20.

By the End of This Course, You Will Be Able To:

• Handle any kind of FLIP simulations.
• Create complex, high-end, large-scale simulations with secondary whitewater.
• Understand every important parameter in the FLIP solver and whitewater solver, with practical examples.
• Use high-quality meshing techniques for the best visual results.
• Utilize Houdini ocean tools and integrate them with your simulations.
• Render perfect-looking scenes in multiple layers (render passes).
• Composite your scenes, merge render layers, and enhance the final outcome using Nuke.

Course Duration: 6:38 Hours

Part 1: Introduction to FLIP Solver

• Use shelf tools for simple FLIP fluid simulations of a sphere falling in water.
• Understand the fluid simulation pipeline in the DOP network.
• Learn basic solver parameters.

Part 2: Simulation On The Run

• Import animations into Houdini and create your FLIP tank.
• Prepare for the simulation with thorough parameter testing.
• Tweak collisions and simulations using powerful solver parameters.

Part 3: Whitewater Simulation

• Perform a cool whitewater simulation to enhance the look of your scene.
• Conduct extensive parameter tests to refine the whitewater effect.

Part 4: Different Meshing Methods

• Apply advanced meshing techniques to preserve small details.

Part 5: Houdini Ocean Tools

• Master Houdini ocean tools and integrate them with your simulation for a seamless final result.

Part 6: Rendering and Final Compositing

• Render the scene for compositing.
• Cover the principles of rendering fluid scenes and managing render passes.
• Add lights, create shaders, and render different passes.
• Composite the final scene in Nuke for the best visual outcome.