Pausing / slow-motion effect

[mb85]

Is there an easy way to slow down/stop a simulation? I'm trying to replicate a common effect where a camera flies through the complex geometry generated by a splash of liquid, which is either stopped or moving at a very slow speed. Is this possible with phoenix? I got the impression that the SPF setting has something to do with it.

[Ivaylo Katev]

you can animate the simulation time scale factor, this is the best way in my opinion.
another option is to animate the input play speed, but this involves frame blending that is not always perfect. however, if you need fully stopped simulation, the usage of fixed input anim. index option is the best way (see the Anim. index parameter )

[mb85]

Ah, excellent! Thanks Ivaylo!

[mb85]

So I tried animating the timescale to a low value, and while it does indeed slow down the simulation as expected, the simulation becomes less stable. It seems like the fluid starts to bounce around like it's boiling or something. Is there anything else I can adjust to correct this?

[Ivaylo Katev]

interesting never tried with liquids, only fire and smoke and there are no such problems.
well, i suspect the sharpness is to blame. try to animate the sharpness simultaneously with the time scale.

[mb85]

Ah hah... After some more fiddling it looks like the issue was the drying time. I suppose the drying time is unaffected by the timescale. Once I turn the drying time up to something like 5 seconds (from 0.1), everything looks stable and good.

[Ivaylo Katev]

drying time affects only the walls, i had the impression that the entire liquid is problematic

[mb85]

That makes sense. My simulation is focusing on some thin splashes of liquid - since they have a small internal volume it appeared as though the whole fluid is wiggling around as it dries.