Realflow help

[Da_elf]

need to create this shape. i want it to kinda form from a few spheres that merge then make this shape. whats the best way to do that?

[Da_elf]

ok. i decided to do it in max using bercon metaballs. (shame it doesnt have a relax filters section like realflow)
my problem came from when i did a render using DR. i had forgotten to include the free gradual stop plugin on the render node. so obviously the render was messed up. the buckets which were done by the render slave had some particles useing the plugin still moving and not stopping. ive since added the plugin. however ive tried rebooting and that doesnt work i still get the same thing. ive no idea whats going on

EDIT
turned off the bercon meta balls and rendered the actual particles. seems to work just fine now. this is looking to be a problem with berconmetaballs

EDIT 2
oh wait... lol. the cache was messing things up.

EDIT 3 is it really difficult to do those filtering effects in berconballs?

EDIT 4 hehe. in real life two drops moving away from eachother would pull with a higher threshold than two moving towards eachother. wonder if it would be possible to calculate whether a particle is getting closer to another than further from it and use two different thresholds between them. my mind is just full of thoughts today as the edits prove

[Da_elf]

what are the best settings to raise or lower to speed up bercon render times?

[joconnell]

Step length is the main one. It's a bit like the slices in vray fog, the lower the number, the finer the result you get but less continuity and blending. For particle stuff you can get gaps appearing between particles or it missing small details entirely.

[Da_elf]

thanks joconnell i couldnt find a document for help that explains what each settings for.