Case Studies
Aquarius Zero (Wow Inc.)
Interview with Naoki Takano and Kazunori Kojima, designers
NextLimit: What was RealFlow used on exactly?
Wow: I used Real Flow for all the sections which include the liquid zero motifs.
NL: Why did you decide to use RealFlow?
W: Because I can get the most realistic water motion and mesh with RealFlow.
NL: What was the most challenging part of the project and how did you overcome that challenge?
W: It took a long time to do the simulations when I added more particles. The PC crashed a couple of times when I tried to make the 3D mesh, even though there were no problems when we got to the simulation phase. The problem may have been that it took up too much memory. To solve the problem, we used speces.xeon quadcore dual machines with G4 memory. We used a Mac to create the final mesh.
NL: What kind of time schedule were you on?
W: We had 3 weeks in total. After shooting, we spent 2 weeks on the project.
NL: How long have you been using RealFlow?
W: Personally, I’ve been using RealFlow for 2 years. WOW inc has used RealFlow for about 4 years.
NL: How easy/ difficult was it to integrate RealFlow in your workflow?
W: It was very easy to get realistic fluid action. The difficult point was getting the optimal results for the simulation, changing the parameters such as Resolution to get the perfect look, and so on.
NL: How do you think RealFlow could be improved or what would you like to see implemented into the program?
W: It could be easier to use, especially for people who don’t have much knowledge of Python scripting - maybe something similar to the Particle Flow tool on 3D studio max.
It would also be useful to be able to preview the .mov or image sequence on the imported materials, such as background 3D camera view, so that I wouldn’t need to transfer the result of simulations to other 3D software.
NL: Could you please detail what other software programs you used and what hardware you used?
W:
Software:
- 3dsmax：vray & other renderer + other plugins
- Cinema4D
- XSI
- Adobe production set
Hardware:
- max&xsi team：dell workstation：Xeon 8core model. Memory 4GB to 16GB
- Cinema4D team：mac workstation：Xeon 8core model. Memory 6GB to 8GB
NL: How big was the team working on this project?
W: 2 people were working on these VFX parts of the TV commercial.
NL: Is there anything else you would like to add?
W: It would be so much better if I could send to events:
Eg: emitter->300Frames later->50% particle -> send daemonA or send daemonB
NL: Do you plan to use RealFlow on any future projects?
W: Yes, I will use it for any project which requires me to create water or water effects.
NL: Could you tell us a bit about your company?
W: The visual design studio "WOW” is based in Tokyo and Sendai. We will also open a WOW Europe office in Italy very soon. WOW provides visual effects work for TV commercials, promotion videos, visual identification designs, promotional events, interface designs and much more. We also produce non-commercial work, such as short films, interactive media, and installation work, to improve our own abilities and skills.
Copyright:
Wow - www.w0w.co.jp
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