About Forces

 
 
 

Each force is represented in the scene by its own control object, which you can select, transform, rotate, and scale like any other object in the scene. For example, you can change and animate the fan's direction, or you can even defy the laws of physics by inverting the gravity control object's direction so that it's pointing up instead of down.

Each hair object, rigid body object, cloth object, soft body object, or ICE point cloud can have multiple natural forces applied to it. As well, you can have the same force applied to a number of hair, cloth, and soft-body objects in a scene.

With rigid bodies, a force is applied to a simulation environment as soon as you create it, and affects all elements within it — see The Simulation Environment.

You can control the effect of each force on hair (see Setting Up Forces for Hair [Hair]) and cloth (Setting Up Forces for Cloth).

For information on how to apply forces to ICE point clouds (particles), see ICE Forces [ICE Fundamentals].

This table shows which type of force works with which type of simulation:

 

ICE Particles

Hair

Rigid body

Cloth

Soft body

Attractor

Yes

Yes

Yes

-

-

Drag

Yes

Yes

Yes

-

-

Eddy

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

-

Fan

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

-

Gravity

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Toric

Yes

Yes

Yes

-

-

Turbulence

Yes

Yes

Yes

-

-

Vortex

Yes

Yes

Yes

-

-

Wind

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Finding Forces in a Scene

There are several tools to help you view the connections between forces and the simulations that they're affecting.

Forces in the Explorer

Forces are displayed in the explorer, each one with its own icon.

Forces in the Schematic View

In the schematic view, you can see the links between forces and simulation objects by choosing Show Operator Links and selecting the force. All forces are represented by a generic force icon (an F with an arrow).