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Hi,
so I've just spent about an hour troubleshooting why when I create Ink preset, PHXParamMod works correctly to limit particle distribution from the bottom of the meshes in world Z axis, where as when I replicate exactly the same setup, it never works. It took me an hour to figure out that while I did correctly invert the curve, by default, PHXParamMod curve goes from -1 to 1, where as for normal distribution to work properly, I had to replicate the curve going from -1 to -0.01.
The more I use Phoenix, the more I realize how powerful it is, but also how very counter intuitive it is. There's already over 50 very little subtle counter intuitive quirks that I need to constantly keep in my memory or have written down to be able to successfully create what I want.
Phoenix FD definitely does not seem like a software that you could pick up and get up to speed with in a week. It's only very rare when I want to do something, I proceed by intuition, and it works on the first try. It's always experimenting and troubleshooting before I am able to produce first simulation. Presets are extremely helpful, but I don't think reverse engineering very complex dependencies of presets is a good way to go about learning curve.
It's not that PhoenixFD is difficult because simulation is generally difficult discipline of computer graphics. Phoenix seems to be difficult simply because lots of very small counter intuitive user interface quirks combined together make for one big confusing experience. It all together adds up to a very steep learning curve, where you really need to spend at least a year of daily 8 hours shifts to build a massive mental library of workarounds, knowledge about limitations and possible bugs.
So I figured, once I finish my current job, I'll try to put together some mockups on how to improve UI and make it more user friendly and self explanatory
so I've just spent about an hour troubleshooting why when I create Ink preset, PHXParamMod works correctly to limit particle distribution from the bottom of the meshes in world Z axis, where as when I replicate exactly the same setup, it never works. It took me an hour to figure out that while I did correctly invert the curve, by default, PHXParamMod curve goes from -1 to 1, where as for normal distribution to work properly, I had to replicate the curve going from -1 to -0.01.
The more I use Phoenix, the more I realize how powerful it is, but also how very counter intuitive it is. There's already over 50 very little subtle counter intuitive quirks that I need to constantly keep in my memory or have written down to be able to successfully create what I want.
Phoenix FD definitely does not seem like a software that you could pick up and get up to speed with in a week. It's only very rare when I want to do something, I proceed by intuition, and it works on the first try. It's always experimenting and troubleshooting before I am able to produce first simulation. Presets are extremely helpful, but I don't think reverse engineering very complex dependencies of presets is a good way to go about learning curve.
It's not that PhoenixFD is difficult because simulation is generally difficult discipline of computer graphics. Phoenix seems to be difficult simply because lots of very small counter intuitive user interface quirks combined together make for one big confusing experience. It all together adds up to a very steep learning curve, where you really need to spend at least a year of daily 8 hours shifts to build a massive mental library of workarounds, knowledge about limitations and possible bugs.
So I figured, once I finish my current job, I'll try to put together some mockups on how to improve UI and make it more user friendly and self explanatory
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