CaronteFX for Unity. Rigidbody/Softbody simulation editor extension.

Hello everyone,

Update:

The editor extension has been released in the Unity Asset Store.

Pro Version:
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/56666

Free Version:
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/56698

If you need any assistance you can reach us here:
http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/carontefx-general-forum.387925/

For more info on the product:
https://www.nextlimit.com/products/name/carontefx/


Our Unity editor extension package, CaronteFX, is coming to the Unity Store. We are starting the closed beta testing phase and we are looking for users willing to help us with this process. The beta version is fully functional, but we are still fixing issues and adding new features to it.

CaronteFX is being developed at Next Limit Technologies; developers of rigid body/soft body simulation technology software that has been used successfully to create animations for film, advertising, video games, and more.

If you are interested in helping us with the beta testing process, please send us a private message or an e-mail to carontefx.unity@nextlimit.com with information about yourself and your interest to participate in our beta testing. Those of you who are chosen to participate will receive the free extension once it has been released.

Introduction

CaronteFX is a highly integrated physically based animation tool editor extension for Unity. It aims at providing the necessary tools to create high quality physical rigid body and soft body animations that can be played later during game.

It includes several editor views to help developers configure their physics scenes, and to create simulation template definitions that can be easily applied to distinct Unity scenes.

Core Technology

• High physical accuracy. Watch video.
• High quality collision detection and contact response (convex and concave geometry support). Watch video.
• Outstanding quality and stability to plier or stacking simulations. Watch video.
• Robust soft body simulation. Plastic deformation, ability to convert low resolution mesh kinematics to high resolution. Watch video.
• Versatile joints that can connect any kind of body: rigid/rigid, rigid/soft, rigid/static, etc. Breaking behavior and plastic deformation. Automatic modes for joint creation. Watch video.
• Excellent quality/speed ratio. Quality settings can be adjusted by user depending on time available.

CaronteFX Editor

• Create physics scenes inside Unity with the custom physics scene editor.
• Organize the different physics elements of a simulation in a custom hierarchy panel.
• Configure rigid bodies, soft bodies and joints definitions and link them to multiple game objects.
• Save physics scenes as prefabs that can be edited later.
• Mix physics scene prefabs to compose a new scene.
• Apply a physics scene to distinct Unity scenes using floating game object names.
• Replay simulations in the editor, before converting them to animations.
• Save simulations as animation clip files.
• Create prefabs of simulated objects.

Fracture, Weld and Tessellate Tools

• Helper tools to fracture, weld, or tessellate game objects in the editor.
• Highly customizable fracturing options (basic voronoi, geometry steered, and radial modes).
• The fracture tool keeps the shape of the original meshes well preserved in the fractured pieces.
• Can fracture multiple game objects as if they were one, using a global pattern option.
• Welder that can merge multiple objects (removing internal faces).

Daemon Definitions

• Define explosions and other custom forces in the physics scenes.

Multijoint Definition

• Automated creation of joints between bodies using multiple criteria.
• Custom break conditions, joint plasticity, disable collision, etc.

Body Inspector

• Provides info about the physical properties linked to a game object in the active physics scene.

Upcoming Features

• Optimized rigid body collider (for very fast simulation of rigid bodies).
• Ropes simulation.
• Servo simulation.
• Kinematic animated game object support.
• Terrain system support.

 

Wait what? Next Limit Technologies and unity?
What will be next, realflow in unity?

Did I understand right? CaronteFX can simulate rigid body/soft body and then bake it to animation? no realtime simulation? or baking to animation is just a option?

 

You understood it right. CaronteFX allows simulation of rigid bodies and soft bodies in the Unity Editor without having to use any other external application. No real time simulation for the moment(it is our next step after releasing this), so with our extension you can bake the simulations as animations and play them later in game on demand.

 

Does it support hardware acceleration (GPU¿?) ¿?

 

No, it doesn't. But our engine is multithreaded and scales well in multi core systems. CaronteFX runs on Mac and Windows versions of the Unity(v4.x and v5) Editor.The output animations can be played in any Unity build target platform.

 

Hmmm curious, is this what i think it is...... i know it's upcoming but can you say something a bit about it??

 

Servos allow you to set relative changes in position/velocity between simulation bodies. For example, they can spin the wheels of a car, so it will move due to friction, or make a robot walk. They are a powerfull tool to create all kind of physically based animations.

 

I knew it....this..this is what we need in Unity

 

Hi there,

As a developer of a series of physics-based educational games using Unity, I'd love to know if there're plans for the following:
- fully dynamic real-time simulation(not the pre-baking stuff)?
- deformable objects(with real-world mix of elastic-plastic behaviours) that are also dynamically fracturable(eg. breaking glass, tearable fabrics, bullet punching hole through metal sheet, splintering wooden planks, crumbling concrete structures...a la Pixelux's DMM)?
- particle-based fluids(ie. gases/liquids a la RealFlow)?
- GPU acceleration?
I wouldn't hesitate to pay good money for such a plug-in if it materializes, and I'm sure the same goes for many other Unity users too!


Cheers
Melvin Eng
Workshop Foundry

 

cool.

 

Is there any beta available for testing purpose?

 

How's it going? Is there a demo? When the Asset will be in store?

 

We are in heavy development right now, but it won't take much longer for the initial release and we will keep launching updates with new features after that. We will release a free limited demo version too.

 

Good. I am interested in the use CaronteFX for physics-based wheels for vehicles (traction, based on the simulation of friction between wheels and ground; without raycast or Unity wheelCollider). It will be possible?

 

Is there an a price estimate for this plugin?

 

The output of the plugin are physically based animations. It's possible to create vehicle simulations based on the friction between wheels and ground, we have some examples of it(boogie car video), but it's important to note that CaronteFX simulates offline(in the Unity editor, outside play mode), and the output simulations can be cached as animations and played in runtime.

Sorry, but we don't have a price estimate yet. I will announce it here once the decision is made.

 

Hello,

any updates on the realtime component?

Kind regards,
Kreso