ANR Liquid Blobs

Overview

Liquid Blobs launches blobs from an emitter point in all directions. Each one flies in an arc under Gravity, swells and shrinks over its Lifetime, then starts again. Where blobs come close they melt together into one smooth, shaded surface with a highlight, like thick liquid.

The stream runs by itself, with blobs already in flight on the first frame. Blobs are drawn over Source, or alone on transparency. They are stylised particles, not a fluid simulation: they do not collide with anything.

Inputs

1. Sourceoptional

   The image the blobs are drawn over. Leave it empty for blobs alone on transparency.

2. Maskoptional

   Limits where the blobs appear: where its alpha is black, Source shows unchanged.

Output. Shaded blobs over Source, or alone on transparency with their own alpha, covering the project format.

Quick start

1. Add ANR Liquid Blobs. Connect a background to Source, or leave it empty.
2. Set Emitter X and Emitter Y, as fractions of the frame: 0.5, 0.5 is the centre.
3. Set Speed for how far the blobs fly and Gravity for how fast they fall; a negative Gravity makes them rise.
4. Set Blobs and Blob Radius for the amount of liquid, and Merge Threshold for how readily blobs join.
5. Set Color and Highlight.
6. Change Seed for a different stream.

The panel

The node's panel as Nuke shows it, with the values of a new node. Click any control to see what it does; tabs and sections work as in Nuke.

All controls

Tips

• Low Speed and Gravity keep the blobs in a bubbling cluster around the emitter.
• Lower Merge Threshold for fatter blobs that join across larger gaps.
• To pass the blobs behind something in the plate, connect an inverted matte of that object to Mask.
• Speeds are per second: set Frames per Second to your project's frame rate.

Good to know

• The light always comes from the upper left; Color and Highlight are the only shading controls. Grade the result for other looks.
• Nothing is simulated or cached: each frame depends only on its own frame number and inputs, so scrubbing, render order and farm renders all give the same frames.

Works with

ANR Matte ReliefTurns text, a logo or any matte into a soft, rounded shape lit from one side, like gel, plastic or liquid, filled with the colours of your image.ANR Bubble FieldFills the frame with rising, drifting bubbles with rims and highlights, for underwater shots, fizzy drinks, backgrounds and playful titles.ANR Ripple TankWater ripples from one or two drops that spread, bounce off the frame edges and fade, as a height map or as a ripple distortion of your image.