Simulation¶

Simulation (the FX menu set) produces motion algorithmically: hair strand wave, cloth drape, rigidbody collision. Use when the result is too organic or too contact-heavy to key by hand.

What ships¶

Solver	Menu	Used for
Hair / Verlet rope	`Simulation > Create Hair Strand` (short / long)	Hair, rope, hanging cables
nCloth	`Simulation > Create nCloth Patch` (small / large)	Flags, capes, cloth panels
Bullet	`Simulation > Bullet > Add Rigidbody` (default / bouncy)	Rigid object collision

Three solvers in v1; more are roadmap (smoke, fluids, soft body).

Sim vs animation¶

Pick simulation when:

The motion is secondary: a flag attached to an animated pole; the pole is keyed, the flag is sim.
The motion depends on contact: two rigidbodies that bounce off each other unpredictably.
The motion needs stochastic variation: a hair strand whipping in the wind frame to frame.

Pick animation when:

The motion needs to read identically every play. Sims have initial-condition sensitivity.
The motion is the primary focus and you need full control (e.g. the butterfly wing flap; animate it, do not simulate it).

Cache and bake¶

Simulations run live during scrub but are slow. For final playback, cache or bake them:

Cache (default after running): stores per-frame state in a binary cache file. Subsequent scrub is instant; re-running the sim invalidates the cache.
Bake to keys: like Time Editor > Bake, this converts sim output into per-frame keyframes on the relevant channels. Bakes ship with the .esk bundle the same way as hand-keyed motion.

Cache or bake before exporting.

Solver settings¶

Each solver has a tiny set of parameters in the Properties pane. The dedicated pages cover them:

Wind and forces¶

Forces are global per-project: Simulation > Forces > Add Wind…, Add Gravity…, etc. Forces affect every solver that opts in via the placement's affects property.

Performance¶

Solver	Performance budget
Hair (24 segments)	~0.5 ms / frame
nCloth (8x10 grid)	~3 ms / frame
nCloth (12x14 grid)	~6 ms / frame
Bullet (10 bodies)	~1 ms / frame
Bullet (50 bodies)	~5 ms / frame

These run on the CPU's solver thread (not the render thread), so the View Panel stays smooth even during heavy sims.