Hi,

I need to create a 3D paint splatter in Maya but don’t know how to go about getting a good effect. The idea is to have a 3D arrows fly into an object and then splatter on it and then freeze mid-splatter so we can see the liquid flying out in different directions. Im experimenting with nparticles but so far the splatter effect is not looking very good. It needs to look convincingly like a real splatter of paint. Is this the best way to go?

Also what would be the best way of creating the arrow objects that would eventually splatter?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

This sounds like a really cool project.
My first suggestion for approaching the challenge is to not try to do the time remapping of the fluids in MAYA. Trying to speed up and slow down a simulation within MAYA is no easy task...and you could get tons more control to get it just right doing it in any compositing program. Whatever program you use...just do a search for a time remapping tutorial.
To be able to slow things down you should work at a higher frame rate (60 to 100 fps) and while you will have to render more frames, you will get much more control.

I think that you should be able to get some solid thick fluid/paint splatter effects with particles in MAYA.
To get the right shape for your splatter, try adding some non-visible collision objects in different shapes that can direct the splatter better than just a flat surface.
Getting the shape of the splatter is 90%...tweaking the render settings will be easy.

Have to run right now...will post some more ideas in a little while
Good luck
~Ben

Alright...I am back.
Hopefully my earlier comments will help you get going.
To address your question about the arrow hitting the surface.
Not quite sure just what effect you are going with...but here are some ideas for different approaches.

A solid and very controllable way would be to have some combination of Lattices and non-linear deformers that the arrows could fly into. This would be a very, very controlable way to work and wouldn’t take long to set up.
This is a good way to go if you have an exact shape you are looking to attain.
And this would leave you more time to spend getting your fluid splash spot on.

The “I have lots of time” approach would be to try making the arrow an n-cloth object and the wall a passive collision object. There are some great presets for n-cloth that could get you started off in the right direction.
This approach will give you some extra dynamic results that would be hard to create with the previous approach…
but you will need more time tweaking the simulation till you get it just right.

If you want some more thoughts on either of these approaches just say so, and I will be happy to post a more detailed breakdown.

All the best with the project.
~Ben

One of the first things that you can do to get rid of the blobby look of partices is to scale up the amount of particles you are emitting.
Don’t know how many you have now...but usually at least 10,000 is the way to go.
Especially if you want tiny details.
The other big attribute to adjust is the Threshold.

Also try upping the Randomize Radius value on the particle node.
You can even turn on the particle self collision.
Then add some stickyness...with a good variety of particle sizes this can give you some more interesting results.
If your particles are boucing off each other and you still need them to bounce off the object they are hitting,
Try lowering bounce on the particle and then cranking up the bounce on the Passive Collider.
Good luck.
~Ben