top of page

Get started with Doriflow tutorial

We designed the workflow interface to be as comprehensible as possible, so users can navigate efficiently without unnecessary clicking. Follow the steps in the order shown below to create your first fluid simulation!

[Doriflow] -0- Preset Scenes

  1. To initiate your fluid simulation or explore the capabilities of DoriFlow, choose a prebuilt physics setup from the provided list. Click on 'Apply Preset' to seamlessly import Domain, Fluid, and Solid objects into your scene.

  2. Once imported, each object will be appropriately categorized. Ensure all imported objects are selected, enable 'DoriFlow,' and review the simulation settings, adjusting the timestep and resolution to suit your requirements.

  3. You can also combine multiple presets to create a larger scene with diverse physics.

 

[Doriflow] -1- Initialization

Objective: Properly set up the simulation environment by initializing objects and defining simulation parameters.

Steps:

  1. Create Simulation Objects: use the "Assign" button within the DoriFlow Engine to designate Blender objects as Domain, Obstacle, or Fluid.

  2. Geometry Management: Ensure there is no overlap in geometries. Use the Boolean cut feature for precision, or manually adjust complex geometries.

  3. Solidify Modifier: Apply the 'Solidify' modifier to objects such as funnels or hollow obstacles to accurately define internal air volumes.

  4. Parameter Settings: Configure initial conditions such as time step and resolution. Adjust these parameters if you encounter issues like the "Simulation diverged" or liquid-explosion effect.

  5. Domain Considerations: Be mindful of the domain size relative to the fluid particle count and time step to prevent simulation errors and ensure convergence. Since you are dealing with the real physical system, make sure to have a good and sensible combination of variables to have simulation convergence, otherwise there will be error in memory cache, or divergence.

[Doriflow] -2- Main simulation

Objective: Execute the core fluid simulation process, monitoring its progress and managing resources efficiently.

Steps:

  1. Start Simulation: Click "Compute Fluid" to begin the simulation. A progress bar will indicate the completion of frames.

  2. Manage Simulation: Use "Pause" to temporarily halt the simulation or "Stop" to end the simulation early and free up GPU memory.

  3. Visualization: Import and visualize results (.vtk format) in Blender using 'Import Motion Obstacle' for solid and 'Import Fluid Particles' for fluids.

  4. After clicking 'Stop', if the user click 'Compute Fluid' again, it will clear the current cache folder and start the fluid simulation from frame 1.​

​[Doriflow] -3- Mesh

Objective: Refine the mesh generated from the fluid simulation to achieve a high-quality visual representation.

Steps:

  1. Adjust Mesh Settings: Set parameters such as Smoothness, Mesh details, and Voxel/Grid Size to balance detail and performance.

  2. Mesh Computation: Initiate the meshing process with "Compute Mesh", monitoring progress and pausing or stopping as needed.

  3. Import Mesh: Ensure the cursor is set to the World Origin before importing the mesh to guarantee correct alignment of the imported mesh.. Visualize the mesh in Blender and adjust the linked material properties for optimal rendering (the fluid mesh will be the 'Ocean' material by default, user can adjust to their needs).​

​[Doriflow] -4- Foam/Bubble/Spray

Objective: Enhance the realism of the simulation by adding secondary elements like foam, bubbles, and spray.

Steps:

  1. Initialize Whitewater Parameters: Set values for Generation Intensity or Tau Width, .etc. to tailor the appearance of Whitewater effects.

  2. Generate Whitewater particles: Use "Compute Whitewater" to create these particles, with options to pause or stop the process.

  3. Visualize particles: Import Whitewater particles into the scene. User can choose to import separately any type of Whitewater particles: Bubble, Foam or Spray. 

  4. Create Instances for final render: Click 'Build Particle Systems' or 'Build Geometry Node' to automatically generate an icosphere instance for each whitewater particle imported earlier.

  5. For Geometry Nodes: Automatically generated nodes are prepared for each type of whitewater particle. Simply connect the Group input to the Points on the "Instances on Points" node to replace the particles with the icosphere instances. And 'Instances on Points' to Group output. Adjust the size of the whitewater particles through 'size' attribute in the 'Instances on Points' node.

  6. For Particle Systems: Navigate to the Particle System tab to manage whitewater particles. Adjust the 'Number' variable to control the quantity of particles or modify the 'Lifetime' to alter the duration of particles, effectively tailoring the particle system to the simulation's needs.​

 

​[Doriflow] -5- Render Animation

Objective: Compile and render the final animation sequence, incorporating all elements of the fluid simulation.

Steps:

  1. Prepare for Rendering: Ensure all simulation components are correctly visualized and materials are set. Choose the aspect ratio for your social platform (1:1 for Instagram post or 16:9 for Youtube video)

  2. Render Settings: Configure rendering settings in Blender to optimize quality and rendering time.

  3. Execute Rendering: Start the final rendering process by clicking 'Render Final Animation.' Verify the rendering by checking a few sample images for solid motion, fluid mesh, and whitewater particles. If you want to cancel the process, CLICK ESC TO CANCEL RENDER.

 

bottom of page