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In article <396F86E5.551E258E@yahoo.com>, ryan constantine
<rco### [at] yahoocom> wrote:
> what are the current and planned features of this patch?
It currently does simple inter-particle forces and collisions with
environmental objects. It also has gravity, wind, and "space_warps"
which apply forces on the particles depending on their position.
> what kind of physics does this have?
Not quite sure what you mean here... All particles are simulated as
points. They do not collide with each other(although they can exert
forces on each other), but they can collide with environmental objects.
If you were asking how the simulation is done, it is pretty simple: the
particle is moved a certain distance based on it's velocity, various
forces on it are calculated based on it's original position, and it's
velocity is updated based on these forces. Repeat for every particle,
once per iteration.
> are interactions dependent on material; if items are solid they
> collide and bounce off each other, but if they are liquid they merge,
> squish, spreadout, or whatever?
There is currently only an "elasticity" variable controlling the way
they bounce off of objects, though I plan to add more behaviors in the
future. I am also trying to think of a good way to have different
environmental objects interact in different ways...for example, to have
some objects get "wet" by the particles, while others repel the
particles. I would also like to have different liquid types that can
interact with each other in specific ways, like one liquid floating on
another.
> or do they currently remain individual particles? if liquid puddles,
> do the particles get thin enough? etc. etc....
Currently, particles are only produced by emitters, and exist until they
reach a certain specified age or until the simulation is destroyed. I
will try to add "fragmentation" or fission for particles in low-density
areas and for higher-speed impacts, and fusion for relatively
high-density areas with particles traveling in roughly the same
direction. This should increase the efficiency of the simulation,
allowing fine "spray" without requiring huge quantities of particles for
larger bodies of fluid.
If particles interact with each other, than puddles will get thicker as
more particles are added, otherwise, all particles will just ignore each
other and the puddle will stay the same thickness.
I am also trying to think of an efficient space-division scheme that can
easily cope with moving particles...currently all particles must be
tested for distance if you want to use inter-particle forces. This can
be extremely slow with large numbers of particles...
I would also like to add a smarter bounding scheme for the calculated
blob object, though I really have no idea how to do this.
And anyway, I am currently giving the particle system a bit of a rest. I
have a couple other projects I am working on (a df3 modeller, for
example).
--
Christopher James Huff - Personal e-mail: chr### [at] maccom
TAG(Technical Assistance Group) e-mail: chr### [at] tagpovrayorg
Personal Web page: http://homepage.mac.com/chrishuff/
TAG Web page: http://tag.povray.org/
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