mt001 - Creating blowing leaves simulation using Particle Flow in 3ds Max

In this tutorial, we will create a simple blowing leaves animation using the Particle Flow system in 3ds Max. This technique is also referred as “instancing” in other 3D application such as Maya.You need to follow the steps given next to complete this tutorial.

Step - 1
Download mt0001.rar from the following link and then extract contents of the rar file onto the disk: https://www.dropbox.com/s/6wfxrt54d9iv9nb/mt0001.rar

Step - 2
Choose the Project Folder button from the Quick Access Toolbar. The Browse for Folder dialog box is displayed. In this dialog box, navigate to the mt0001_leaves folder and then choose the OK button to close the dialog box.

Step - 3
Choose the Open File button from the Quick Access Toolbar. The Open File dialog box is displayed. In this dialog box, select leaves_start and then choose the Open button to open the file. This file contains a leaf geometry and a plane that will emit leaves in the scene. Also, it contains a camera.

Step - 4
Choose Create > Particle > Particle Flow Source from the menu bar and then create a Particle Flow system in the Top viewport. Next, press 6 to open the Particle View window, refer to Figure mt1-1. First event (PF Source 001) in the Event Display is the Global Event. By default, the Render operator is always present in the global event. The operators that are present in the global event, influence all particles in the scene. The other event (Event 001) is the local event. The two events are linked with each other via connection called wiring.

Figure mt1-1

Step - 5
Select the Birth 001 operator in the Event 0001 event. The Birth 001 operator is displayed in the Parameters panel. Set the Emit Stop spinner to 200.

Step - 6
In the Depot, click-drag the Position Object operator and place it over the Position Icon 001 operator in the Event 001 event; a red line is displayed. Next, release the mouse button to replace the Position Icon operator with the Position Object operator, refer to Figure mt1-2.

Figure mt1-2

Step - 7
Select the Position Object operator in Event 001, its properties are displayed in the properties panel. In the properties panel, choose the Add button and then click on the LeafEmitter geometry in the scene. As a result, the leaves will be emitted from the LeafEmitter, refer Figure mt1-3. Scrub the time slider, you will notice that now particles are being emitted from the LeafEmitter geometry.

Figure mt1-3

Step - 8
In the Depot, click-drag the Shape Instance operator and place it over the Shape operator in the Event 001 event; a red line is displayed. Next, release the mouse button to replace the Shape operator with the Shape Instance operator, refer to Figure mt1-4.

Figure mt1-4

Next, you will replace particles with the leaf geometry.

Step - 9
Select the Shape Instance operator in Event 001, its properties are displayed in the properties panel. In the properties panel, choose the None button and then click on the leaf geometry in the scene; the particles will now take shape of the leaf geometry.

Step - 10
Select the Display operator in Event 001, its properties are displayed in the properties panel. In the properties panel, select Geometry from the Type drop-down.

Step - 11
Scrub the time slider. Notice that now particles have taken shape of the leaf object, refer to Figure mt1-5.

Figure mt1-5

Step - 12
In the Shape Instance operator properties panel, set Scale and Variation spinners to 32 and 20, respectively.

Step - 13
Scrub the time slider to and notice the change in the behavior of the particles.

Step - 14
In the Speed operator properties panel, set Speed, Variation, Divergence spinners to 34, 37, and 50, respectively.

Step - 15
Click-drag the Spin operator from the Depot and then place it after Rotation operator in Event 001.

Step - 16
In the Spin operator properties panel, set the Spin Rate and Variation spinners to 95 and 68, respectively.

Next, you will add a Wind space warp to simulate wind in the scene.

Step - 17
Choose Create > SpaceWarps > Forces > Wind from the menu bar and then create a wind icon in the Top viewport.

Step - 18
Rotate the wind icon as shown in Figure mt1-6.

Figure mt1-6

Step - 19
In the Particle View window, click-drag the Force operator from the Depot and then place it in Event 001.

Step - 20
In the Force operator properties panel, choose the Add button and then click on the wind icon in the Perspective viewport.

Step - 21
Select the wind icon in the scene and then choose the Modify tab. In the Parameters rollout, set the values of the following parameters:

Strength: 0.003

Select Spherical radio box.

Turbulence: 0.1

Icon Size: 23

Step - 22
Scrub the timeline to view the animation.

Step - 23
Now, open the Material Editor and create two sided material. Use leaf_color.jpeg and leaf_matte.jpeg images for diffuse and opacity maps, respectively.

Step - 24
In the Particle View window, click-drag the Material Static operator from the Depot and then place it after Shape Instance operator in Event 001.

Step - 25
Drag the leaf material from the Material Editor and drop it over the None button in the Material Static operator properties panel.

Step - 26
Adjust the camera angle as per your requirement.

Step - 27
Set a light blue color for the background from the Environments and Effects dialog box. You can also specify a background image.

Step - 28
Now, add a directional light and turn on shadows.

Next, you will apply motion blur to the falling leaves.

Step - 29
Right-click on the PF Source icon. The Object Properties dialog box will be displayed. In the Motion Blur area of this dialog box, select the Enabled check box and then select the Image radio button.

Step - 30
Batch render the scene for final output.

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