Calculating the Force Vector in a Force Field to Influence Destruction SIM in Houdini

Quick Overview about Vector Subtraction

Create Force Vectors

In a previous article I posted covered the topic that all 3D points can be formed into vectors with the help of the origin point to derive the direction of the vector.

The centroid point of the sphere is also a vector.

We can use these two vectors or these two points to derive another new vector that points outwards from the center of the sphere.

In order to derive a new vector that points outward from the center of the sphere, we can take the purple arrow vector (point on sphere) and subtract the cyan arrow vector (centroid point) to get an outward pointing vector.

Force Field in Houdini

Repeat the vector subtraction for every single point in the sphere geometry and this will result in a new force vector attribute that can be added to each point in the sphere.

In a previous article I posted, I discussed how this force field can be used to influence simulations by using these force vectors to augment the force coming out of the rigid body solver.