Project Type:
MFA Student Work
Focus:
Simulation
Software Used:
Houdini
Date:
Fall 2026
Description:
A project I created to study layering simulations and working with text/existing graphics.
Main cloth simulation
The primary simulation of the shot. It acts as the main subjectmatter and also drives many of the other simulations.
Primarily used traditional vellum (cloth simulation) methods. However I did leverage the new machine learning tools within Houdini to post process the simulation using principled componant analysis to dejitter.
Spread/Infection Solver
A simple effect driven by an animated source object over the rest state of the text. Used to seperate the text from the page and remove the gometry as the text burns up.
Particle Simulation
This is a simple particle effect spawned around the fringes of the loose text.
Smoke Simulation
Somke sourced from the edges of the text geometry as it gets removed.
Scroll Cloth Simulation
A quick set up to get a realistic looking scroll of paper.
Image Processing
A sequence of functions within Houdini to prepare photos of text/handwriting to be used as textures or geometry.
This was very useful for last minute changes to the text geo and paper materials.
Candle Wax Simulation
Just for fun I simulated the candle wax as well. I ended up not showing it off in the final shot.