PFlow - multiple sources interacting?

[TB_RIO]

I'm trying to create a crowd simulation, which has gone better than I thought it would so far TBH, but looking for pointers on how I could be doing things better and how I might achieve what I'm ultimately after.

I've created a Pflow which consists of an emitter which is essentially a long slot. This cast a bunch of particles in a certain direction, with a little variation in speed and with the 'keep apart' operator which stops them from bumping in to each other within a 500mm radius. On to this particle system I've linked a Forest pack object with a couple of Biped models I created, the frame offset and materials are randomized within the FP item.

Ultimately I would like people emerging from various sources - not just the one, or somehow coming from different directions. I'd also like to constrain their movement to a certain area. Within my scenes this will be the paved areas. Is it possible to get multiple FPSources interacting with each other in the same system? They would all need to operate with the same 'keep apart' operator so that people walking one direction don't bump in to those coming the other, or standing still etc.

I'm a PFlow newb, so any help appreciated.

[TB_RIO]

Right, to answer my own question, yes this is possible. But I'm now looking at some pointers to develop my PFlow.

Attached is the Mp4 of what I have so far, this is the the PFlow:

I have a forest pack object pointed at this, with 4 x single mesh characters with pointcache for one cycle of walking over 30frames.

I think I could nearly get away with doing away with the forest pack, but it's doing a couple of things:

• holding the characters upright on the surface, rather than adjacent to the normals
• offsetting their animation cycle so that their footsteps are out of sync.

If I can do these with the PFlow this would be ideal.

Also, I have the 'keep apart' operator in place to keep them from walking through each other. The problem is that 'acceleration' in this seems to apply to velocity as well as direction. I need a way of altering their direction without altering their speed too much, otherwise it looks like they're walking on the spot. Either that, or link the rate of point cache playback to the velocity across the surface (which would probably be more natural looking as people would speed up or slow down to avoid each other) .

[Anonymous]

I don`t know if ParticleFlow is the right tool for this.Still there is this research by ParticleSkull on procedural leg speed.

Also, did you look at 3dsmax native Crowd Simulation tools? They haven`t been updated since ages, but might still work.

[TB_RIO]

Thanks, I think I'd come across the crowd generator before, but not a comprehensive guide. If I can get it to work with the Fuse characters that could be a great solution.

[Anonymous]

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@TB_RIO wrote:

Thanks, I think I'd come across the crowd generator before, but not a comprehensive guide. If I can get it to work with the Fuse characters that could be a great solution.

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And there`s also Tyflow with a dedicated operator/object for crowd simulation.

[TB_RIO]

Thanks, I was looking at Tyflow's instagram the other day - impressive stuff, and I'm sure more than capable of achieving what I want, I hadn't realised it's an open beta, I've downloaded and will give it a play.

The biggest hurdle I've got at the moment is converting the Mixamo assets in to biped format, but I may be making progress on that front.