AWS Thinkbox Discussion Forums

Frost retiming

Frost
#1

Hi,

Do you know what’s the best workflow for retiming a RealFlow sim?
I thought of:

  • Retime the particles in RealFlow with the ReTimer tool, then import into Max and mesh them with Frost.
  • Import the no-retimed particles into Max, retime them in the PRT Loader and Frost them.
  • Import the no-retimed particles into Max, Frost them, XMesh and retime the XMesh.

So what do you think is more accurate, retiming the particles or the mesh? I want to avoid flickering if possible.

PS: I have a sim which needs to be 4 times slower, it’s a slow motion shot.
Thanks,
Nahuel

#2

The best approach inside of Max would be to load the sequence in a PRT Loader, check the option to “Interpolate Sub-Frames” and use the Playback graph to slow down the playback, then Mesh the result.

“Interpolate Sub-Frames” will load the two neighboring frames and look at the ID channels to match particles from both files. Then it will perform cubic interpolation using the two positions and velocities to produce plausible curved motion on the sub-frames that don’t have actual data stored on disk.

It is possible that the RealFlow retimer is also a usable method, but the PRT Loader lets you perform the retiming on the fly inside of Max and keyframe it any way you want it, so I believe it is the best approach.

#3

Thanks for your reply Bobo!
The problem I am having right now is that when retiming it on RealFlow or with the PRT Loader, the particles do jump (like they accelerate and then deccelerate, and so on). I am not getting a smooth movement.

#4

Even with “Interpolate” on?
Are you loading BIN files, or PRTs?

#5

Yes, even with Interpolate on. I am loading BIN files.

#6

Would it be possible for you to please send us a few BIN files that reproduce this problem? You can send us files using our ticket system.

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