Friday, October 7th, 2016 Posted by Jim Thacker

Navié unveils Effex 2.8


Navié has posted a set of interesting new teaser videos for Effex 2.8, the forthcoming update to its popular fluid simulation and effects toolset for Cinema 4D, including its new APIC liquid solver.

The APIC solver is intended as a more stable, noise-free alternative to the standard FLIP solvers used in tools like RealFlow, Houdini and Maya’s Bifrost toolset.

A better alternative to FLIP solvers for smooth liquid surfaces?
According to Navié, “The FLIP solver is the industry standard when it comes to high-quality fluid solvers. [It’s] great for splashy, turbulent fluid motion – but what if you don’t want it to be turbulent?”

In contrast, Effex’s new APIC solver is designed to generate smooth liquid surfaces, even in simulations with low particle counts or clumped particles.

You can see the difference more clearly in this demo video, which freezes FLIP and APIC simulations midway to compare the distribution of particles.

While turbulent motion isn’t always a bad thing – it’s exactly what you’re looking for in most white water simulations – having a choice of liquid solvers gives artists more control over the end result.

As Navié puts it: “Now the artist can control where and when [they] wants the fluid simulation to get turbulent without the algorithm dictating this.”



Updated 7 October: Navié has posted another demo video of Effex 2.8’s new sound node and constraints.

The toolset enables users to control other framework nodes via sound amplitude and frequency, enabling artists to use a sound source to drive liquid simulations.


Pricing and availability
Navié hasn’t announced an official release date for Effex 2.8 yet, but the firm is advertising it as a free upgrade to anyone buying Effex 2.7, so it presumably can’t be too far away.

Effex 2.7 is compatible with Cinema 4D R16 and above, running on Windows and Mac OS X. It costs €587.40 (around $657), excluding tax. There is also a cut-down Indie licence.


See more demo videos of Effex 2.8 on Navié’s Vimeo channel

Read more about Effex on the product website