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Destructing Elements in Maya With PullDownIt: Part 2

In this part of the tutorial, I'll show you the different styles of breaking object with PDI and how to assign various materials to the inner parts of the broken chunks.
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1. Custom Centered Shatter

Step 1

Open Maya.

Open MayaOpen MayaOpen Maya
Open Maya

Step 2

Go to Create > Polygon Primitives > Cube and create a cube in the perspective view port.

Create  Polygon Primitives  CubeCreate  Polygon Primitives  CubeCreate  Polygon Primitives  Cube
Create > Polygon Primitives > Cube

Step 3

With the cube selected, go to PullDownIt menu bar and click on the ShatterIt feature icon.

PullDownIt menu barPullDownIt menu barPullDownIt menu bar
PullDownIt menu bar

Step 4

In the ShatterIt feature window, set the values of Shatter Style to Local, Num Centers to 1 and then click on Shatter It! button. 

You'll see the cube gets shattered with one center as shown in the following image. 

ShatterIt feature windowShatterIt feature windowShatterIt feature window
ShatterIt feature window

Step 5

Undo the action. Once again follow the previous step, but with the value of Num Centers as 3. Click on Edit Centers button.

There are three axes on the cube which represent three different centers. You can easily shift their positions using Move tool. 

Num CentersNum CentersNum Centers
Num Centers

Step 6

Click on the Shatter It! button. You can see the cube gets shattered with three centers as shown in the following image.

Shatter It buttonShatter It buttonShatter It button
Shatter It! button

2. Creating Radial Shatter

Step 1

In the ShatterIt feature window, set the values of Shatter Style to Radial, Num Rings to 1 and then click on Shatter It! button. 

ShatterIt featureShatterIt featureShatterIt feature
ShatterIt feature

Step 2

You will see the cube gets shattered in the radial form as shown in the following image.

The cube gets shatteredThe cube gets shatteredThe cube gets shattered
The cube gets shattered

Step 3

This time, set the values of Num Shards to 128, Num Rings to 3, Noise to 1 and then click on Shatter It! button. 

Shatter It buttonShatter It buttonShatter It button
Shatter It! button

Step 4

Set the values of Num Shards to 13, Num Rings to 3, Noise to 1, Main Axis to M(medium) and then click on Shatter It! button. You'll see the shattered cube as shown in the following image.

Shatter It buttonShatter It buttonShatter It button
Shatter It! button

Step 5

Set the values of Num Shards to 13, Num Rings to 3, Noise to 1, Main Axis to L(longest) and then click on Shatter It! button. You'll see the shattered cube as shown in the following image.

Shatter It buttonShatter It buttonShatter It button
Shatter It! button

2. Creating Wood Splinters

Step 1

In the ShatterIt feature window, set the values of Num Shards to 13, Shatter Style to Wood splinters, Width to 0.1 and then click on Shatter It! button.

Wood splintersWood splintersWood splinters
Wood splinters

Step 2

You'll see the cube gets shattered in the wooden splinters form as shown in the following image.

Wooden splintersWooden splintersWooden splinters
Wooden splinters

Step 3

When you hit the Play button to see the simulation, a dialogue box appears asking for making the grid into ground. Click on Yes button. Now the grid acts as the ground.

Play buttonPlay buttonPlay button
Play button

Step 4

You'll see a ground plane in the view port as shown in the following image.

Ground planeGround planeGround plane
Ground plane

Step 5

Hit the Play button to see the simulation. The cube hits the ground and gets broken into wooden pieces.

Hit the Play buttonHit the Play buttonHit the Play button
Hit the Play button

3. Creating Path Based Shatter

Step 1

Go to Create > CV Curve Tool.

Create  CV Curve ToolCreate  CV Curve ToolCreate  CV Curve Tool
Create > CV Curve Tool

Step 2

Create a curve through the cube as shown in the following image.

Create a curve through the cubeCreate a curve through the cubeCreate a curve through the cube
Create a curve through the cube

Step 3

In the ShatterIt feature window, set the values of Num Shards to 250, Shatter Style to Path Based and Width to 0.1

Click on Select Path button and select the CV curve and then click on Shatter It! button. You'll see the shattered cube as shown in the following image.

ShatterIt feature windowShatterIt feature windowShatterIt feature window
ShatterIt feature window

Step 4

Create a sphere in the perspective view port. With the sphere selected, click on Create Pdi Body icon. In the Create Rigid Body window, select the Type as Dynamic and then click on Update Transform.

Create Rigid Body windowCreate Rigid Body windowCreate Rigid Body window
Create Rigid Body window

Step 5

Hit the Play button to see the simulation. The cube hits the sphere and gets broken into pieces.

Hit the Play buttonHit the Play buttonHit the Play button
Hit the Play button

4. Creating Cut Material

Step 1

Create a sphere in the view port. With the sphere selected, go to PullDownIt menu bar and click on the ShatterIt feature icon. In the ShatterIt feature window, set the values of Num Shards to 10, Shatter Style to Uniform and then click on Shatter It! button. 

You'll see the shattered sphere as shown in the following image.

PullDownIt menu barPullDownIt menu barPullDownIt menu bar
PullDownIt menu bar

Step 2

Move a broken chunk of the sphere. You can see the internal parts of the chunks are green. You can either edit the color or apply some texture/ material.

Move a broken chunk of the sphereMove a broken chunk of the sphereMove a broken chunk of the sphere
Move a broken chunk of the sphere

Step 3

Go to Window > Rendering Editors > Hypershade

Window  Rendering Editors  HypershadeWindow  Rendering Editors  HypershadeWindow  Rendering Editors  Hypershade
Window > Rendering Editors > Hypershade

Step 4

In the Hypershade window, click on the green slot. It opens the green color attribute in the Attribute Editor.

Hypershade windowHypershade windowHypershade window
Hypershade window

Step 5

Edit the color and it will update the cut material in the view port.

You can edit the colorYou can edit the colorYou can edit the color
You can edit the color

Conclusion

In the next part of the series, I'll show you some more dynamic simulations and interactions of PDI bodies in Maya.