The Inferno Mesh Force operator allows you to inject mesh-driven forces into an Inferno simulation.
Each force type applies its effect to voxels within a distance/falloff range from the nearest point on the mesh surface. Forces are split into front-face and back-face contributions, allowing you to configure different behavior on either side of the mesh surface. When “Symmetrical backface force” is enabled for a given force type, the back-face settings are hidden and the front-face values are used for both sides.
Affect magnitude %: controls the extent to which forces injected by this operator will affect the magnitude of existing velocities in the simulation, rather than just their direction. 0% means the Inferno Force operator will only affect the direction of velocities in the simulation, whereas 100% means magnitude and direction will be affected.
Conservation bias: controls the extent to which forces injected by this operator will be injected before/after the simulation’s conservation step. 0 means forces will be injected entirely before conservation, 1 means entirely after, and values between 0-1 means forces will be injected partially before and after.
Conservation, which removes velocity divergence in the simulation, can sometimes over-smooth strong forces that are injected. In scenarios where you want to exert finer control over how forces behave after conservation is applied, you can adjust the bias value to be greater than 0.
The Advanced rollout also provides per-channel relative controls that scale the overall force contribution based on local simulation values. Each channel can be enabled independently and configured with a min/max range and a curve defining how the channel value maps to the force multiplier.
Relative to density: when enabled, force strength will be scaled based on the local density value.
Relative to fuel: when enabled, force strength will be scaled based on the local fuel value.
Relative to temperature: when enabled, force strength will be scaled based on the local temperature value.
Relative to meshes: when enabled, force strength will be scaled based on proximity to the specified mesh objects.
Zero distance if inside volume: when enabled, voxels that fall inside the mesh volume will be treated as having zero distance to the surface, causing the relative force multiplier to use the minimum value for those voxels.
The inside/outside test performs a simple nearest-normal calculation to deduce whether a voxel is inside or outside of a mesh. This test may fail for open meshes, self-intersecting meshes, or groups of meshes that intersect each other. It works best on closed meshes that do not intersect.
Mesh list: the list of mesh objects to use as force sources.
Merge input meshes: when enabled, all meshes in the list will be merged into a single combined mesh before force calculations are performed.
Drag slows fluid motion near the mesh surface by removing velocity from voxels in the influence region.
Drag %: the percentage of velocity removed from voxels near front-facing mesh surfaces each step.
Distance: the distance from the mesh surface within which voxels are fully affected.
Falloff: the additional distance beyond which the effect diminishes to zero.
Symmetrical backface drag: when enabled, front-face drag values will also be applied to voxels near back-facing surfaces.
Drag %: the percentage of velocity removed from voxels near back-facing mesh surfaces each step.
Distance: the distance from the mesh surface within which voxels are fully affected.
Falloff: the additional distance beyond which the effect diminishes to zero.
Pull applies a force toward the nearest point on the mesh surface, drawing fluid in along the surface normals.
Pull force: the strength of the pull force applied toward front-facing mesh surfaces.
Distance: the distance from the mesh surface within which voxels are fully affected.
Falloff: the additional distance beyond which the effect diminishes to zero.
Symmetrical backface force: when enabled, front-face pull values will also be applied to voxels near back-facing surfaces.
Pull force: the strength of the pull force applied toward back-facing mesh surfaces.
Distance: the distance from the mesh surface within which voxels are fully affected.
Falloff: the additional distance beyond which the effect diminishes to zero.
Follow applies a force tangent to the mesh surface, causing fluid to move along the surface rather than toward or away from it.
Follow force: the strength of the follow force applied along front-facing mesh surfaces.
Distance: the distance from the mesh surface within which voxels are fully affected.
Falloff: the additional distance beyond which the effect diminishes to zero.
Symmetrical backface force: when enabled, front-face follow values will also be applied to voxels near back-facing surfaces.
Follow force: the strength of the follow force applied along back-facing mesh surfaces.
Distance: the distance from the mesh surface within which voxels are fully affected.
Falloff: the additional distance beyond which the effect diminishes to zero.
Swirl applies a rotational force around the mesh surface normal, causing fluid to orbit around the mesh.
Swirl force: the strength of the swirl force applied near front-facing mesh surfaces.
Distance: the distance from the mesh surface within which voxels are fully affected.
Falloff: the additional distance beyond which the effect diminishes to zero.
Symmetrical backface force: when enabled, front-face swirl values will also be applied to voxels near back-facing surfaces.
Swirl force: the strength of the swirl force applied near back-facing mesh surfaces.
Distance: the distance from the mesh surface within which voxels are fully affected.
Falloff: the additional distance beyond which the effect diminishes to zero.
Pressure injects an outward pressure value into the simulation near the mesh surface, which the pressure solver then converts into velocity.
Pressure: the pressure value injected near front-facing mesh surfaces.
Distance: the distance from the mesh surface within which voxels are fully affected.
Falloff: the additional distance beyond which the effect diminishes to zero.
Symmetrical backface force: when enabled, front-face pressure values will also be applied to voxels near back-facing surfaces.
Pressure: the pressure value injected near back-facing mesh surfaces.
Distance: the distance from the mesh surface within which voxels are fully affected.
Falloff: the additional distance beyond which the effect diminishes to zero.
Noise injects spatially-varying random forces near the mesh surface. When enabled, the Noise rollout becomes visible and provides noise configuration settings.
Noise: the strength of the noise force applied near front-facing mesh surfaces.
Distance: the distance from the mesh surface within which voxels are fully affected.
Falloff: the additional distance beyond which the effect diminishes to zero.
Symmetrical backface force: when enabled, front-face noise values will also be applied to voxels near back-facing surfaces.
Noise: the strength of the noise force applied near back-facing mesh surfaces.
Distance: the distance from the mesh surface within which voxels are fully affected.
Falloff: the additional distance beyond which the effect diminishes to zero.
Only visible when the noise force is enabled. Configures the noise field used to generate spatially-varying force directions near the mesh surface.