Prepare to use the Fire
effect
Before you use the Fire
effect, be aware of these issues:
- Use the Fire effect on only one object
at a time.
To apply Fire to a group
of NURBS surfaces, first convert each surface to polygons and combine
the surfaces. From the Surfaces menu
set, select
Modify > Convert > NURBS to Polygons,
then from the Polygons menu set choose
Mesh > Combine.
To apply Fire to a group
of polygonal surfaces, simply combine the surfaces with
Mesh > Combine.
- If you emit from a NURBS or polygonal
object, the size and shape of the object affects the quality of
the fire. You’ll need to use an object large enough to generate
an adequate flame area. If you emit fire from a curve, avoid using
a curve with abrupt changes in direction.
- It’s often useful to use the Fire effect
on the same geometry more than once. By setting options differently
with each usage, you can create a complex look not possible with
a single usage.
- If you want to animate the movement of
the fire around the workspace, consider using the Fire effect on
a particle object. You can work with per particle expressions on
particle objects, so you have more flexibility in altering the fire’s
motion.
- You’ll often need to emit flames from
part of an object rather than from its entire geometry. In some
instances, the part of the object where you want the fire won’t
have geometry present. A common technique in such cases is to emit
from an invisible geometric object in that area.
To use the Fire effect
- Do one of the following:
- Select the object or CVs, edit points,
vertices, or particles that you want to emit fire.
- To create a positional emitter, deselect
all objects.
- Select
Effects > Create Fire > .
- Set attributes in the Create Fire Effect Options window
(see
Edit attributes of the Fire effect)
and click Create.
The Fire effect creates
an emitter, emitted particle object, expressions, ramps, textures,
and several fields.
- Play the animation.
Emitted particles appear
as circles in the workspace because the particles are displayed
as the Cloud render type.
Here’s an example with Shading
> Smooth Shade All turned on.
- Add a light to the scene and software
render to see the fire.
From the Rendering menu
set, for example, select
Render > Render Current Frame.
Edit attributes of the
Fire effect
The following pages explain
attributes you can set to tune the Fire effect. The Fire effect
creates several custom attributes in the emitted particle object
it creates. The custom attributes control a combination of field
or emitter attributes to lessen the settings you would otherwise
need to make to tune the fire.
Attributes in the Create
Fire Effect Options window
These
attributes appear in the Create Fire Effect Options window
when you select
Effects > Create Fire> . Changes
you make to the options window affect only fire you create after
you make the changes.
You can edit most of
these attributes after you use the Fire effect by selecting the
emitted particle object and opening the Extra Attributes section
of the Attribute Editor. Exceptions
are noted in the text.
Tune the fire's appearance
- Adjust any other attributes that are
controlled by expressions, ramps, and textures to tune the effect.
To learn which expressions, ramps, and textures are created by the
Fire effect, apply Fire to an object in an otherwise empty scene.
Use the Attribute Editor, Expression
Editor, and Hypershade to
see the additions.
- Edit attributes of the Cloud particle
render type.
- Turn off the turbulence field
by disconnecting it using the Dynamics Relationship Editor.
- Animate the emitter to move the fire
in your scene.