My first impression is there are lot settings! Considering the capability of simulating fire, smoke (like FumeFX), infinite ocean (like Dreamscape), liquid fluid and high viscosity (like Realflow), particle shader (like Krakatoa) and generating bubbles/foam.so many features packed in one single plugin, it is reasonable to have so many settings.įirst of all, I tried to simulate fire, after all, fire is the main features of its predecessor. Therefore, PhoenixFD is not limited to fire or smoke simulation almost all fluid phenomena can be simulated with this plugin. Fluid dynamic includes smoke, fire, and liquid. Unlike the old Phoenix, which cheats fire and smoke, PhoenixFD means Fluid Dynamic. Almost every 3D Studio users know this plugin.Įven today, you can still see a flying phoenix on the banner of ChaosGroup website. Back then, this well-known fire plugin was distributed by Digimation. The initial launch of Phoenix was not based on fluid dynamics. In fact, Phoenix was Chaos Group first product (first release in 1998), and after three years V-Ray for 3dsMax was released. So V-ray is for Vladimir and Phoenix is for Peter. I've heard the story (not confirmed though) when the Chaos Group was established in 1997, the naming of V-Ray and Phoenix were inspired by the two founders: Vladimir Koylazov and Peter Mitev. The main reason is sophisticated of this plug-in it take me a while to understand each parameter for writing a proper review. Since two years I was invited to write a review for PhoenixFD it has been slow to complete.
very responsive support from ChaosGroup development team.Provides comprehensive toolset for various fluid situations.Interactive simulation: Simulation is not locking the GUI, so you can adjust parameters or rendering while simulating.Integrated workflow: seamless integration with V-Ray, unlike Realflow which requires a third-party particle renderer (i.e., Krakatoa) to render out splash/foam.
A complete solution for making realistic fire, water, ocean, smoke and explosions in one package.