FumeFX is a powerful fluid dynamics plugin-in for Autodesk 3ds max, designed for simulation and rendering of realistic fire, smoke, explosions and other gaseous phenomena. Unrivalled in its ability to capture the subtlety and complexity of fluid gas behavior it is favored among visual effects artists, game developers, visualization professionals and everyone else who demand the utmost in realism.

Fume FX is our goto package for all of our atmospheric needs. FumeFX’s quality and speed are unparalleled in any other package. Our cinematics rely on FumeFX’s ability to provide amazingly realistic, highly detailed, fantastic simulations which help bring Blizzard’s worlds to life. Without it, our Director’s vision would often be unachievable in any reasonable time frame. We’re confident that whatever effect is demanded of us, FumeFX will be there to help us make it happen.

FumeFX 5.0 new features

The latest incarnation of FumeFX offers the artist with unique set of tools that will free the creative mind and minimize tedious tasks even further than before. As a result of the FumeFX core rewrite, a wide range of irregular objects can be used for simulation without the fear of solver instabilities. The newly implemented conservative advection, GPU accelerated 3ds Max viewport, faster simulations, .fxd multithreaded lossy compression are just some of the new features found inside FumeFX 5.0.

Feature film and games reel

Over the past 12 years of development and innovations FumeFX has become an integral part of major studio production pipelines. It has been used to create visual effects for many blockbuster films such as Dr. Strange, Thor, Roland Emmerich’s 2012, Hugo, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Priest, Skyline, Suckerpunch, Spiderman 3, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Superman Returns, Iron Man and more. Computer game cinematics like Blizzard’s StarCraft II, Assassin’s Creed Revelations, The Warhammer Series and many others have relied on FumeFX software to achieve stunning visuals.

Workflow

The innovative FumeFX user interface combines all the major fluid simulation components making the simulation setup easy and efficient. It allows user to change parameters during the simulation with instant feedback or even to directly edit FumeFX sources without the need to switch back and forth between dialogs.

Simulation

The FumeFX simulation core has been constantly improved and refined to deliver high level of realism with minimal simulation times. With over 10 years of successful usage in film production, video games, the advertisement industry and other areas that require realistic fire and smoke have helped in shaping the fluid simulation package that users can rely on. Whether making a candle dancing on the wind or destroying a whole city block in 2012 movie style, FumeFX can help you deliver the shot on time and within budget.

Interface
The FumeFX interface integrates simulation, rendering, presets and source parameters in one place. It provides quick and easy navigation through simulation caches and offers intuitive control of simulation parameters.
FumeFX GPU accelerated viewport
GPU Viewport
The GPU accelerated viewport produces render-comparable images to give instant feedback on appearance and behavior of the simulation. Among many advantages, it supports viewport .png export during the simulation.
* supported on 3ds Max 2016 and newer

FumeFX network simulation
Network
In order to boost productivity, FumeFX can utilize BackBurner, Deadline, or remote desktop applications to run simulation tasks on another computer with FumeFX or FumeFX SL installed.

The Solver
The QCG solver in FumeFX is optimized for speed and robustness. It has complete control over the realism vs speed balance.
Burning candle in Autodesk 3ds Max
Combustion with Oxygen
The Fire model within FumeFX adds Oxygen to the equation. This new component brings forth various new ways to creatively control the burn process.
FumeFX vorticity
Vorticity
With the addition of various vorticity models, you can now choose from visually different curl types, giving your FumeFX simulations a more unique look and feel.
Dragon breath fire fluid simulation
N-Sim
It is a great time saving solution. This allows the user to simulate multiple overlapping grids simultaneously while all fields propagate between the overlapping grid boundaries automatically.
Pyroclastic cloud
Wavelet Turbulence
It’s never been easier to add more detail to an existing FumeFX simulation. It is a fast, memory efficient and predictable way to increase grid resolution.
3ds Max building destruction and Thinking Particles
Particles
FumeFX is tightly integrated with Particle Flow, tyFlow, cebas Thinking Particles and Thinkbox software Krakatoa. Different FumeFX-based operators provide ultimate particle control and it’s the only tool with full Thinking Particles integration.

Render Warps
Whether you want to create a special effect or need to tweak a final animation, with Render Warps there are many more possibilities. With just a few mouse clicks users can warp their cached simulation and watch the resulting deformation directly inside the 3ds Max Viewport, or in rendered images.
FumeFX Effectors
Effectors
Gain creative control over almost every simulation parameter and field. With Effectors it is simple to control vorticity by velocity or to generate smoke based on any other channel value. Effectors take channel data to the next step.
3ds Max simulation retiming
Post Processing
The Post Processing lets you retime caches, bake Render Warps, convert between various formats, or improve cache fetch and save disk space by excluding channels that are no longer needed in your workflow.

Rendering

FumeFX for 3ds Max has its own shading support for 3ds Max Scanline, Arnold render, mental ray and VRay. Other renderers like Redshift, Octane and Corona can render FumeFX caches by using the OpenVDB file format.

Render
FumeFX has its own built in illumination map and multiple scattering models for faster rendering. It also supports the rendering of the motion blur.
Smoke multiple scattering
Shading
The FumeFX shader incorporates the Black-body fire shader with artistic-friendly controls, render sharpening for crisp details and smoke color based on the simulated color.
FumeFX 3ds Max Arnold render
Arnold Renderer
Native FumeFX-Arnold shader integration allows user to render fire and smoke with utmost realism without the need for fxd to vdb conversion. Standard Shader also supports AOVs for normal, depth and velocity pass.