nxMesher

nxMesher converts particles into a polygon mesh.

Particle emitters and nxExplosiaFX objects are added to the Layers list. The resulting mesh is generated in real time on the GPU.

General tab

nxMesher General tab.

Polygon Size

Controls the resolution of the mesh.

Smaller values produce a finer mesh with more polygons. Larger values produce a coarser mesh with fewer polygons.

Surface Size

Sets how the particle surface radius is determined.

Set as Custom, by default.

The alternative is Source.

Custom

The surface radius is set manually using the Radius parameter.

Source

The surface radius is taken from the particle radius, scaled by the Scale value.

Radius

The surface radius of each particle, used to build the mesh surface.

Available when Surface Size is set to Custom.

Scale

Scales the particle radius when Surface Size is set to Source.

Surface Type

Sets the algorithm used to generate the mesh surface.

Set as Spheres, by default.

The alternatives are Zhu-Bridson and Anisotropic (Basic).

Spheres

Each particle is represented as a sphere. The mesh is the union of all spheres.

This is the simplest and fastest surface type.

Zhu-Bridson

A smooth liquid surface algorithm that blends particles together, producing a more organic fluid surface.

Anisotropic (Basic)

The surface is stretched along the particle velocity direction, giving the mesh an elongated appearance for fast-moving particles.

Speed Anisotropy

If enabled, the amount of anisotropic stretching is driven by the particle speed.

Eccentricity

Controls how much the surface is stretched along the velocity direction.

A value of 0% produces a spherical surface. Higher values produce greater elongation.

Max Speed

The particle speed at which the maximum Eccentricity is reached.

Polygon Mode

Sets the polygon type used in the output mesh.

Set as Tris, by default.

The alternative is Quads.

Add Modifier

Adds a modifier layer to the Layers stack.

The available modifier type is Smoothing.

Layers

The layer stack.

Particle emitters and nxExplosiaFX objects can be dragged into this list to include them in the mesh.

Smoothing layers can be added using the Add Modifier button.

Layers can be enabled or disabled using the toggle on the left of each entry.

Layer settings

When a layer is selected in the Layers list, its settings are shown below.

Emitter layer settings

Smoothing

Blends the emitter’s contribution with the neighbouring mesh surface.

Higher values produce a smoother result where multiple emitters overlap.

nxExplosiaFX layer settings

When an nxExplosiaFX object is added to the Layers list, the following options control which simulation data is used to generate the mesh.

Smoke

If enabled, the smoke channel of the simulation is used to generate the mesh surface.

Iso-value

The density threshold above which the smoke channel contributes to the mesh surface.

Temperature

If enabled, the temperature channel of the simulation is used to generate the mesh surface.

Iso-value

The density threshold above which the temperature channel contributes to the mesh surface.

Smoothing layer settings

Smoothing layers reduce surface noise and improve the overall mesh quality.

Mode

Sets the smoothing algorithm.

Set as Gaussian, by default.

The alternatives are Laplacian and Mean Curvature.

Gaussian

Applies a Gaussian blur to the mesh surface field, producing a broad and even smoothing effect.

Laplacian

Averages each vertex with its neighbours, producing a tight smoothing effect that preserves volume better than Gaussian.

Mean Curvature

Smooths the mesh based on surface curvature, reducing high-frequency noise while preserving larger surface features.

Strength

The strength of the smoothing effect.

Influence Range

The radius of influence used when sampling neighbouring vertices during smoothing.

Iterations

The number of smoothing passes applied per frame.

Higher values produce a smoother result at the cost of additional processing time.

Export Tags tab

Export Tags bake particle data onto the mesh as tags, which can be used for shading or rendering effects such as motion blur.

Transfer Color

If enabled, particle colours are transferred to the mesh as a vertex colour tag.

Smoothing

Blurs the transferred colour data across neighbouring vertices.

Transfer Velocity

If enabled, particle velocities are transferred to the mesh as a UV tag, mapped to the ranges defined by Max Velocity X, Max Velocity Y and Max Velocity Z.

Max Velocity X

The velocity value on the X axis that maps to the maximum UV value.

Max Velocity Y

The velocity value on the Y axis that maps to the maximum UV value.

Max Velocity Z

The velocity value on the Z axis that maps to the maximum UV value.

Smoothing

Blurs the transferred velocity data across neighbouring vertices.

Domain tab

The domain defines the region of space within which the mesh can be generated. Particles outside the domain are not included in the mesh.

Domain Size

The size of the domain box on each axis.

Adaptive Domain

If enabled, the domain automatically expands to contain all particles in the scene.

This is enabled by default.

Adaptive Color

Sets the display colour of the adaptive domain boundary in the viewport.

Draw Domain

If enabled, the domain boundary is drawn in the viewport.

Groups Affected tab

Groups

To specify the group, drag and drop the desired Group object into this field.

This setting is useful if you want to ensure that the spawned particles are, or are not, included in the mesh.

Mapping tab

The modifier’s settings can be mapped to particle data.

Use the dedicated manual page, below, for instructions on how this works.

Mapping

Fields tab

You can use the Fields options to control where nxMesher operates.