emFlock2 (version 2.334) |
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| Type: | ICE Plugin |
| File(s): | Addon containing one dll/so file and several ICE compounds |
| Current: | v.2.334 May 2013 |
| Compatibility: | Softimage 2012 SP1 and above, Windows 64 bit, Linux 64 bit |
| License Model: | Floating, uses the Reprise License Manager (RLM) |
| Quick Links: | |
emFlock2 v.2.3 (alpha) - "Evolution".
Two and a half minutes of flocking, flying and morphing particles using emFlock2's new "Evolution" feature.
The motivation to make this animation was to test the features of the new emFlock2 version 2.3. The animation has one camera and one simulated point cloud. The shapes into which the particles morph are point clouds that were created with the compounds "Quantize Volume", "Twist Position" and the new "Equal Distribution" which are all three contained in the latest emTools.
Description
emFlock2 is a flocking solver for Softimage|XSI's ICE. It uses the three "classic ground rules of flocking":
- Separation will prevent the members from crowding and colliding.
- Alignment will make each member adapt its heading to the average heading of its visible neighbors.
- Cohesion will make each member want to go to the average position of its visible neighbors.
The plugin consists of an Addon that contains a "DLL" file (Windows) or "so" file (Linux) for the flocking solver node (compiled C++ code for 64 bit versions of Softimage). Additionally, there are many compounds to control the speed and alignment of the particles.
This version also includes a set of compounds called emFly. These compounds allow you to define complex flying paths for the particles. Furthermore they allow you to make a flock of particles "morph" into a shape.
emFlock2 and emFly are well integrated into ICE and can be combined with the built-in ICE compounds like for example "Flow along Curve", "Forces", "Bounce from Surface", etc.
Some Features
- Multithreaded neighboring and flocking.
- Compounds for speed and orientation control without flipping.
- Compounds to make flocks fly along specific paths and morph into specific shapes.
- Generation of complex flight paths using nearly any desired input in any desired combination (point clouds, polygon meshes, curves, etc.).
- New neighboring compound.
- Point clouds that use emFlock2 and emFly are still just "ordinary" point clouds => they can be cached and rendered just as any other point cloud.
Here is a short video showing some of the new features:
Roughly two minutes of particles that flock, fly and morph using emFlock2, emFly and two new compounds called "Equal Distribution" and "Dynamic Particle Count":
