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SDF. What is it?
SDF: Scalar Distance Field
A SDF is a function which calculates the distance to the surface of an object by using the space that object contains. You may notice that SDFs usually function with anything that has a volume or a VDB attribute.
Here are some common SDF nodes: (As of Houdini 17.5)
SDF Geometry Nodes:
Paint SDF Volume
Volume SDF
VDB Topology to SDF
VDB smooth SDF
VDB reshape SDF
VDB re-normalize SDF
VDB Morph SDF
VDB Activate SDF
Convert VDB
SDF Dynamic Nodes:
SDF Representation
Gas SDF to Fog
Gas Particle to SDF
Gas reinitialize SDF
Gas geometry to SDF
What VFX Simulations Use SDF?
In Houdini some operations and simulations you might use SDFs for are:
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Explosions
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Fire
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Smoke
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Custom Volume Based Simulations
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Fog simulations
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Clouds
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VDB simulations

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