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Mapping an Environment Texture onto a fluid in blender works normally, even with image sequences/animated textures, but I can't seem to figure out how to map an Image Texture onto a fluid.

Really, I need to map an image sequence onto a fluid. If there's a way to bake a fluid onto a non-physics enabled object (similar to baking a collision simulation into an animation and disabling the physics) and then mapping the texture normally, how would I go about doing that instead?

gandalf3
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user1445709
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    What type of mapping are you looking for? Are you looking to apply a material that sticks to the faces as they move. Or are you looking more for an externally mapped texture that is fixed while the mesh moves in world space (like a reflection)? – Todd McIntosh Feb 25 '14 at 02:27
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    Related, http://blender.stackexchange.com/questions/5422/how-to-apply-gradient-color-change-in-an-animation – iKlsR Feb 25 '14 at 03:51

1 Answers1

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I'm assuming the issue is that it's impossible/difficult to properly UV-unwrap a fluid, moving mesh?

2 solutions off the top of my head:

  1. Use "Generated" as the Texture Coordinates, and then Use Box method on the Image node to blend the texture seams together.

  2. If you need more control over the texture placement, use the UVProject modifier with a number of projector cameras in the scene. You might need to add an alpha feathered transition to the edge of the image manually in an external app. For an animated texture, you might need to blend it with an alpha mask image.

Todd McIntosh
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