VeeDynamics ‘turbocharges’ elastic body simulation in Blender
Łukasz Czyż has released VeeDynamics: a “turbocharged physics” plugin for Blender.
The add-on implements new simulation method Vertex Block Descent (VBD), making it possible to simulate “thousands of elastic objects” in Blender in “seconds per frame”.
New plugin implements VBD-based elastic body simulation in Blender
VeeDynamics is intended to provide a higher-performance alternative to Blender’s native physics system, specifically for elastic materials like rubber.
It implements new simulation method Vertex Block Descent (VBD), described as providing better performance and stability than existing methods like Extended Position Based Dynamics (XPBD), used in tools like Houdini and Unreal Engine.
According to Czyż, it can simulate “thousands of elastic objects, with performance measured in seconds per frame”.
This video shows 250 rubberized versions of Blender’s Suzanne head model being dropped into a tank, with the bounces simulated in near-real time.
GPU-accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs
Simulation in VeeDynamics is GPU-accelerated, although since it requires CUDA 7.5+, you will need a relatively recent NVIDIA GPU: a GeForce RTX 20 Series or newer.
Workflow is fairly simple – you can adjust material properties like Desnity, Squishiness, Stretchiness, and Friction – but essentially, you just decide whether objects in the scene are elastic bodies or rigid colliders, and let the simulation play out.
Completed simulations can be exported to other DCC applications or game engines in any format that Blender supports, including Alembic and USD.
The plugin is Czyż’s latest Blender add-on, following UV unwrapping plugin UVPackmaster.
System requirements
VeeDynamics 1.0 is compatible with Blender 4.3+ on Windows 10+ only. It requires a NVIDIA GPU that supports CUDA 7.5+. It is still officially in beta.
Perpetual licenses cost $24 for Indie users with revenue of under $100,000/year, and $59 for Professional licenses.
Read more about Blender elastic physics plugin VeeDynamics on the product website
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