Adding NeXus Objects

Everything in NeXus is an object you add from the Add ▸ INSYDIUM NeXus menu.

Emitters, forces, generators and the rest are all added the same way, then configured in the Properties editor. This page covers opening the menu, what each category contains and what happens when you add an object.

In the 3D viewport, open the Add menu (or press Shift+A) and choose INSYDIUM NeXus at the bottom. Every NeXus object is added from this one menu.

The INSYDIUM NeXus Add menu, listing every NeXus object grouped into categories with dividers

The INSYDIUM NeXus menu lists every object, grouped into categories (Emitter, Objects, Simulation, Generators, Logic, Particle, Force and Utility) with dividers between them.

You add objects in Object Mode. NeXus needs an active license, so the entries stay grayed out until one is entered. If you have not activated NeXus yet, the menu shows an Enter License… item at the top that opens the add-on preferences. See Installation and Licensing to get set up.

What adding an object does

Choosing an entry creates a new object at the world origin and makes it the active selection.

Each NeXus object is a Blender Empty that carries a NeXus type. It does not render or add geometry on its own. It is the object you select to reach the feature’s settings and, for generators and meshers, the source that produces the visible result.

You configure the object in the Properties editor ▸ Physics tab, where its settings are laid out across tabs such as Object Properties, Groups Affected, Mapping and Falloff. See The NeXus Panel for a full tour of that panel.

The first time you add a NeXus object to a scene, NeXus also sets up the scene’s simulation pipeline, so the object is ready to evaluate straight away.

The categories

The menu groups objects into the sections below, in this order. Within each section the entries are listed alphabetically, apart from the two nxLiquid entries, which sit beside nxEmitter.

Emitter

The particle sources and the objects that organize them.

nxEmitter is the particle source, the starting point for most setups. nxGroup tags particles into named groups so other objects can target only those particles. nxCache bakes a simulation to disk for fast, repeatable playback.

Beside nxEmitter are two one-click liquid entries, nxLiquid Fill and nxLiquid Flow. Each builds a complete FLIP liquid setup (an nxEmitter feeding a FLIP nxFluids solver) in a single step. See nxLiquid.

Objects

Scene objects that particles interact with.

nxCollider makes particles collide with one or more meshes in your scene, with per-object control over bounce, friction and how particles scatter on impact.

Simulation

The larger solvers and simulation systems: nxConstraints, nxExplosiaFX, nxFlowField, nxFluids, nxFoam, nxPPCollisions, nxSheeter, nxSplash and nxWave. These cover pyro and smoke, fluids, particle-to-particle collisions, foam and splash secondaries, waves and other volume effects.

Generators

The objects that turn particles into renderable geometry: nxGenerator instances objects onto particles, nxMesher builds a surface mesh from them and nxTrail draws splines that follow particle paths.

Logic

nxQuestion runs per-particle logic, testing conditions and driving values with expressions to control how particles behave over their lifetime.

Particle

The objects that change a particle’s own attributes: nxBlend, nxColor, nxKill and nxScale. Use these to blend attributes, set color, remove particles and resize them.

Force

The largest category, holding everything that moves or steers particles. It includes the field forces such as nxGravity, nxWind, nxDrag, nxTurbulence and nxVorticity; the targeting and surface forces such as nxAttract, nxAvoid, nxCover, nxFollowGeo and nxSticky; and behavioral systems such as nxFlock, nxInfectio and nxExplode. The full set also covers nxDirection, nxLimit, nxPush, nxRotate, nxSpeed, nxSpin and nxDendrite.

Utility

nxUpres increases the detail of a cached simulation by adding higher-resolution particles that follow the original motion.

Managing relationships

Adding objects is only the first step. Which emitters a force affects, which groups an object targets and the order things evaluate in are all managed from the NeXus Hierarchy, in the 3D viewport’s N-panel ▸ NeXus tab.

This replaces the object-manager tree and parenting you would use in Cinema 4D. See NeXus Hierarchy for how to wire a setup together.