The real world remains the best fluid simulation
Why Simulate When You Can Film?
Fluid simulations are now commonly used with software like Realflow, a reference in the field.
These digital simulations have many advantages: no shooting required, fully 3D, perfect control over physics and motion dynamics, multiple tests at low cost, etc. But there is one major drawback: the huge computation times needed when trying to achieve a realistic result — not to mention the additional render times required for a photorealistic image and the necessary compositing work.
Just like in 3D, high-speed cameras have made tremendous progress in recent years. The Phantom HD Gold can shoot full HD at 1000 frames per second, with the quality of 35mm film. This allows for very beautiful slow-motion shots, without any interpolation.
Spike, a Motion-Controlled Robotic Arm. Fast.
When you want to capture the slow-motion explosion of a water bottle, it’s usually quite simple. You place the camera in front of the bottle and start recording at the right moment (not too early — since with thousands of HD frames per second, drives fill up very quickly... in 8 seconds, the Phantom fills its 32GB memory). But when you want to move the camera around that explosion, things get much more complicated. It must be done very quickly, and even a skilled steadicam operator would struggle.
That’s where Spike comes in. It’s a robotic arm whose movement is entirely computer-controlled. Motion control isn’t new, but the speed at which this arm can execute movements is truly impressive!
In short, it allows you to do what Sure Target does for After Effects — but in real life!
All the shots you’ll see in the video below are filmed. No 3D — these are real images, captured using Spike and the Phantom:
The Marmalade
We owe this robot to the German studio The Marmalade, which specializes in designing high-quality commercial effects. They have their own 200-square-meter studio and all the necessary equipment to create the scenes requested by their clients.
Below, you’ll find two videos: their impressive showreel and a behind-the-scenes look showing their workflow and creative process.
It’s truly amazing, and I highly recommend checking out their portfolio to see their full productions.
About the author
I am the Founder of Mattrunks.
I work as Creative Director and Motion Designer in my studio. I also create video tutorials to share my passion of motion.