Reactor is a plug-in for 3DS Max that allows the user to assign physical attributes to any given object and animate them in such a way that makes it easier to control and simulate complex physical scenes. Reactor not only allows you to assign object’s mass and volume, but it also frees you from having to animate any secondary movements caused by the physical interaction of the objects in this space. Some examples include exploding buildings and draping curtains. As we all know, this takes an enormous amount of time and can become very tedious. By assigning physical characteristics to these objects, one can model a seemingly complex interaction easily and accurately.

Using our investigation of the various types of ecologies we have studied thus far, Reactor will allow us to create animations and illustrations that accurately portray some of the environmental processes that occur in the natural world.

           Here is a simple tutorial I found…

*If the Reactor plug-in is not on your main toolbar, it may be found under the Animation tab in 3Ds Max.

           Illustrating Ecologies // Ball Drop

           Illustrating Ecologies // Joako Smash

Reactor_ 3D MAX // Revisited

As mentioned before, Reactor is a plug-in for 3D MAX that allows the user to assign physical attributes to any given object and animate them in such a way that makes it easier to control and simulate complex physical scenes. This addition to the previous post will attempt to help you set up a scenario in 3D MAX to better understand the user interface while working with the Reactor plug-in.

First, you want to create the shapes that you want to react to each other. In this case, we will set up a series of boxes as well as a plane for them to fall on. Each box is different in size and each will be assigned different masses and volumes later in this tutorial.

The next step after creating the objects is to create a rigid body collection. In the toolbar, first click on Animation tab on the toolbar, then on reactor > Create Object > Rigid Body Collection. Setting up this Rigid Body Collection allows the objects you created to become separate pieces of a working unit. This means that each piece now has the ability to be assigned mass and volume, as well as friction and elasticity.

Once the Rigid Body Collection is established, you can assign properties to the objects that will allow each individual piece to react to one another. In order to do this, you must open the Rigid Body Properties Editor. This can also be found under the Animation tab in the toolbar, or under the Utilities tab under reactor > properties. By default, each object has a mass = 0, so this must be changed in order for anything to happen. Changing the elasticity and the friction allows the objects to become more or less active in the scene.

In my scene, each one of my boxes has a different mass and each box is considered a Bounding Box. This property can be found under the Simulation Geometry tab in the Rigid Body Properties Editor. Under the same tab, I assigned the plane as a Concave Mesh. I left the Physical Properties of the plane at its default settings.

At this point, you should be ready to preview your animation. Under the Utilities tab, click on reactor > Preview & Animation > Preview in Window. This is will bring up a dialog box that your animation can be viewed in. By pressing “P”, the animation will start, when it is finished, you can press “R” to reset the animation to the original starting point.