Post 15/30: VFX tutorial for Blender – Simulating Water (Basic Fluid Simulation) Tutorial

 

Goal: Create simple water simulations.

Step 1: Setting Up the Scene

1.     Open Blender:

• Launch Blender and start a new project.

2.     Delete the Default Cube:

• Right-click on the default cube and press X to delete it.

3.     Add a Domain Object:

• Press Shift + A > Mesh > Cube. This will serve as the container for your fluid simulation.
• Scale the cube up (press S and drag) to create a larger box that will contain the water.

4.     Set the Domain Object:

• With the cube selected, go to the Physics Properties tab (the bouncing ball icon).
• Click on Fluid and set the type to Domain. Set the domain type to Liquid.

Step 2: Adding the Fluid Object

5.     Create the Fluid Object:

• Press Shift + A > Mesh > UV Sphere to create a sphere that will represent the water.
• Scale the sphere down (press S) to make it smaller than the domain cube.

6.     Set the Fluid Properties:

• With the sphere selected, go to the Physics Properties tab.
• Click on Fluid and set the type to Flow. Change the flow type to Liquid.
• In the flow settings, set the flow behavior to Inflow to make it continuously pour into the domain.

Step 3: Adjusting the Simulation Settings

7.     Adjust Domain Settings:

• Select the domain cube and navigate to its Physics Properties.
• Under the fluid settings, find the Cache section and set the type to All. Increase the end frame to around 100 for a longer simulation.
• Optionally, set the resolution to 64 or higher for a smoother fluid simulation.

8.     Adjust the Flow Settings:

• Select the sphere (fluid) again.
• You can adjust the Flow Rate in the flow settings to control how much water is poured in.

Step 4: Baking the Simulation

9. Bake the Simulation:
• In the domain cube's Physics Properties, scroll down to the Cache section and click on Bake. This will calculate the fluid simulation.
• Wait for the baking process to complete (this may take a moment depending on your settings).

Step 5: Setting Up the Materials

10.  Add Water Material:

• Select the fluid (sphere).
• Go to the Material Properties tab (the sphere icon) and click New.
• Change the surface type to Principled BSDF. Adjust the Transmission value to 1.0 for a clear water effect. You can also adjust the Roughness for different effects (lower values for smooth water).

11.  Add Lighting:

• Press Shift + A > Light > Area to add an area light to your scene.
• Position it to illuminate the fluid well and adjust its strength in the light properties.

Step 6: Rendering the Scene

12.  Set the Camera:

• Press Shift + A > Camera to add a camera.
• Move it to a good vantage point to capture the fluid simulation (press G to grab and move it).
• With the camera selected, press Ctrl + Alt + Numpad 0 to snap the camera to the current view.

13.  Render Settings:

• Go to the Render Properties tab (the camera icon).
• Choose your render engine (Cycles or Eevee). Cycles will give more realistic results but may take longer to render.
• Adjust the resolution and output settings as desired.

14.  Render the Animation:

• Press Ctrl + F12 to render the animation. Blender will output your animation based on your set resolution and settings.

Step 7: Share Your Work

15.  Export Your Animation:

• After rendering, you can find the output video in your specified output directory.

16.  Create a Shareable Visual:

• Use your rendered animation to create a short video to share on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, or your social media accounts.

Recap:

In this session, you've set up a basic fluid simulation to create a water pouring effect. You learned how to manipulate objects, apply fluid physics, and render your scene. With these skills, you can create engaging shareable visuals that demonstrate your progress in Blender!

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