RealFlow and Architecture

I’m exploring the use of Next Limit’s RealFlow software for creating fluid, hyper indexical architectural environments. Although such an approach has been done before, I’m trying it out all the same. I think the idea of fluidity and the spontaneity of the Montessori method have too much in common to not try to exploit such a technique.

Modeling architecture in RealFlow is like dating a really crazy girl: sure its fun (for awhile), sometimes it’ll blow your mind, but often time the culmination of the consequence (which is really what Real Flow outputs) is frustrating. Therefore, I’ll be posting up some tutorials and advice to help out anyone else who might be interested in creating the same sort of effect without so much of the heartache.

In Real Flow, the user sets up parameters which then get pushed through an animation and the output is a single frame, selected by the architect, meshed for export, and moved into a modeling software. For using RealFlow in Rhino, see the RealFlow Import tool created by David Rutton (download here).To control the export, access export central by pressing F12. Then simply check the mesh file types that you want to generate when you rebuild the meshes. See a video about file export here.

 

To move about the modeling environment, hold down ALT and use the mouse to move about (similar to MAYA).

There are four main Nodes (or manipulators) in RealFlow: objects, daemons, meshes, and emitters: objects are rigid/soft bodies, daemons influence particles during animation, emitters emit particles, and meshes mesh the particles according to very specific parameters. There are four main parameters (among sixty or so) which are key in controlling the fluid mesh: polygon size, filter->relaxation (after filter method is set to “yes”), blend factor, and radius (thanks Gnomon Workshop). All values are scale dependent. Change and rebuild the mesh to see the results.

Other than that, I feel that the interface is fairly simple, comparable to programs like Google SketchUp or the new Rhino OSX interface. You can script fluids, but with what I am working on this would be overkill.

Anyway, here’s a few screenshots to give you an idea of the software’s potential:

I know this is brief, so if you have any questions or something to add, post it in the comments-