Destructing Elements in Maya With PullDownIt: Part 9

Preview

Destructing Elements in Maya With PullDownIt: Part 9

1. Creating Layers

Step 1

Open Maya.

Step 2

Create a cube in the perspective view port as shown in the following image.

Step 3

With the cube selected, press Ctrl-D key to make a duplicate copy of the mesh. Keep the copied mesh aside as shown in the following image. These cubes will act like wooden pillars.

Step 4

Create another cube and put that on the pillars as shown in the following image. This cube will act like the wooden plank.

Step 5

Create several copies of the meshes as shown in the following image.

Step 6

With the first plank selected, click on the ShatterIt feature icon.

Step 7

In the ShatterIt feature window, set the values of Num Shards to 64 and Shatter Style to Wood splinters. Select L(longest) as Main Axis and click on Shatter It! Button.

Step 8

Perform the same operation with other plank meshes also.

2. Applying Fracture

Step 1

Click on the PDI Basic Fractures icon as shown in the following image.

Step 2

It opens the PDI Basic Fractures window. With the first plank chunks selected, click on Create.

Step 3

It opens the Set up Fracture Body window. Change the Name as Plank1 and click on Accept button.

Step 4

Click on the PDI Basic Fractures icon once again. Now, you will see the Plank1 fracture body in the list. Change the values of Mass to 200 and Clusterize% to 80. Close the window.

Step 5

With the second plank chunks selected, click on Create.

Step 6

It opens the Set up Fracture Body window. Change the Name as Plank2 and click on Accept button.

Step 7

Click on the PDI Basic Fractures icon once again. Now, you will see the Plank2 fracture body in the list. Change the values of Mass to 200 and Clusterize% to 80. Close the window.

Step 8

Perform the same operation with other plank meshes also.

3. Applying the Force Field

Step 1

Jump in the Dynamics mode.

Step 2

Go to Fields > Air. It creates air field in the view port.

Step 3

Go to Volume Control Attributes tab and set the Volume Shape to Sphere.

Step 4

Scale up the size of air field’s gizmo as shown in the following image.

Step 5

Under Air Field Attributes, set the values of Magnitude to 20 and Attenuation to 0.

Step 6

With the Plank1 fracture body selected, turn on Static, At Frame as 1 and Affected by Force Fields options and then click on Include/ Exclude button.

Step 7

It further opens a sub-window. Select airField1 and click on Accept.

Step 8

Animate the Magnitude attribute of the Air field. At the first frame, set the value of the Magnitude to 0. Keep this value to the tenth frame. At 15th frame, set the value to 30 and at the 16th frame, set the value to 0 again.

Step 9

Make another copy of the Air force field and put it above the second plank. With the Plank2 fracture body selected, turn on Static, At Frame as 10 and Affected by Force Fields options and then click on Include/ Exclude button.

Step 10

It further opens a sub-window. Select airField2 and click on Accept.

Step 11

Animate the Magnitude attribute of the Air field. At the tenth frame, set the value of the Magnitude to 0. Keep this value to the 15th frame. At 20th frame, set the value to 30 and at the 21st frame, set the value to 0 again.

Step 12

Repeat the process with other planks also. Once done, press the Play button to see the simulation as shown in the following image.

Conclusion

In the next part of the tutorial, I'll show how to merge cloth simulation with PDI fracture.