Physics Sim
Stable rigid/soft body setups. Motivated destruction. Baked caches.
When to Use
- Rigid body interactions and collapses
- Soft body jiggle / rubber / simple soft props
- Destruction and debris (cell fracture / pre-cut shards)
- Pre-vis physics before VFX polish
Workflow
Simplify collision meshes → Assign rigid/soft bodies
→ Constraints → Passive settings → Bake → Art-direct → Export cache
Rigid Body Quick Rules
| Role |
Settings notes |
| Active |
Moving debris / props |
| Passive |
Floors, walls, heavy anchors |
| Convex hull |
Fast, approximate |
| Mesh |
Accurate, heavier |
- Apply scale before sim
- Use margin appropriate to scale
- Collection:
COL_Physics_[Shot]
Constraints
- Hinge / fixed / motor for mechanical links
- Breakable constraints for destruction beats
- Name:
RBCON_[Object]_[Type]
Destruction Approach
1. Pre-cut shards (cell fracture or manual)
2. Island meshes as active rigid bodies
3. Passive shell until trigger frame
4. Animate trigger (force / keyframed activation)
5. Bake → cleanup interpenetrations
Soft Body
- Prefer for simple soft props; use
cloth-sim for garments
- Goal weights to retain shape
- Soft + collision object required
Bake / Export
- Bake to cache before render
- Alembic/USD for cinematic debris
- For games: bake key poses or flipbook; rarely live Blender physics
Constraints
MUST DO
- Apply scale; use simplified colliders
- Bake before final delivery
- Trigger destruction intentionally (frame)
MUST NOT DO
- High-res sculpt meshes as active colliders
- Unbounded shard counts
- Leave sims unbaked for final renders
Reference Guide
| Topic |
Reference |
Load When |
| Rigid Body Presets |
references/rigid-body-presets.md |
When needed |
| Destruction Pipeline |
references/destruction-pipeline.md |
When needed |
| Sim Bake Checklist |
references/sim-bake-checklist.md |
When needed |
