Overview
This project involved building a reusable simulation setup for a cranberry bog that needed to work across multiple shots with varying conditions and live action actor interaction. The pipeline brought together on-set photogrammetry, tracked actor geometry, and a Houdini FLIP fluid simulation designed from the ground up to be flexible enough to serve the full shot range without rebuilding for each setup.
Simulation Setup
The FLIP simulation was built as a modular network allowing different interaction types to be switched in depending on the shot requirements. Actor geometry, derived from the matchmove, was used as a collider driving the fluid displacement. Cranberry distribution was handled as a separate layer of packed primitives seeded into the fluid and advected with the velocity field, giving the bog surface its characteristic dense, floating quality.
The photogrammetry captured on set was used to reconstruct the bog environment geometry, which formed the fluid container and provided accurate shoreline collision for the simulation. Keeping this geometry grounded in the real environment meant the simulation seated naturally in the plate without needing heavy compositing fixes at the edges.