Houdini

Atlas Dynamics Simulation

The simple theme behind this piece was to have the globe of an Atlas statue crumble and fall to the ground. The Atlas model was created in Maya and then imported into Houdini. The various pieces of geometry were added to a DOP Network within Houdini for the rigid body simulation. To improve the collision detection and overall results of the simulation I increased the volume divisions for the geometry to more closely match their shape. I also experimented with various internal glue and solver parameters to achieve the desired result. Once happy with the simulation I added a File DOP to cache the results.

All the shaders for the simulation were created procedurally using VEX. The marble shaders use various noise functions, lighting models and colour mixing techniques. I also created a Z Depth shader that includes various parameters for defining the minimum and maximum camera distances, the colour direction and the overall output colour.

The large image accessed from the link below shows the various passes that were rendered out to allow greater control during compositing.

Render passes of Atlas model

Render passes of Atlas model:
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The image accessed from the link below shows the final composite.

Final composite of Atlas model

Final composite of Atlas model:
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The movie clip below shows the final simulation.

Still of Atlas dynamics simulation

Atlas dynamics simulation:
Download Clip
Filename: atlasWeb.mov
File size: 1.5 MB