Autodesk Inc.’s Fluid FX App—which enables users to play with a variety of digital effects, such as smoke, fire, and image warping—is now available on the App Store for use on the Apple iPad, iPod touch, and iPhone.
Ttwo-time Academy Award winner Jos Stam, Autodesk senior research scientist, is the creator of the app, based on Autodesk Maya fluid effects technology. Users can now interact with and manipulate fire and billowing smoke clouds for their amusement and entertainment. The new app enables users to interact in real time with up to 10 multitouch points to manipulate ultrarealistic smoke and fire or create dry ice effects that fall and flow along the ground. Tilting or changing the orientation of the device influences the imagery which behaves realistically as if affected by gravity.
The app includes a variety of preset effects, but users also have the freedom to adjust, save, and load custom presets, including personal photographs and images from the Photo Library. When the simulation is applied, the app allows the images to warp and swirl like fluid. What once took days, expertise and expensive computers to develop can now be enjoyed by novices with Fluid FX on iOS.
Autodesk Fluid FX becomes kinetic art when in "party mode." The app automatically displays stunning visuals, through fluid dynamic simulations, randomizing colors, settings, and fading across presets. Fluid FX also supports video out, so users can create ambience by displaying their visuals on a big screen television. On iPhone 4, Fluid FX takes advantage of the Retina Display by running at full 960 x 640 resolution (for both the simulation and the user interface). The iPad version also takes advantage of the larger screen real estate.
The Autodesk Fluid FX App is now available for US $1.99 from the App Store on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad or at at http://www.itunes.com/appstore. View the Fluid FX demo video on You Tube.