# WIP - using mesh emitters for floor-based effects **URL:** \ **Category:** Personal Work\ **Tags:** vfx, unreal, mesh\ **Created:** [September 17, 2018, 2:26pm UTC](https://realtimevfx.com/t/wip-using-mesh-emitters-for-floor-based-effects/5788 "2018-09-17T14:26:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NotSoLittleChris](https://realtimevfx.com/user_avatar/realtimevfx.com/notsolittlechris/32/5662_2.png) [@NotSoLittleChris](https://realtimevfx.com/u/NotSoLittleChris)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 2:26pm UTC](https://realtimevfx.com/t/wip-using-mesh-emitters-for-floor-based-effects/5788/1 "2018-09-17T14:26:25Z")
Hey guys, I wanted to find out how other artists tackle effects that use effects coming out of the floor? For example, broken pieces of rock, earthquakes, cracks, holes in the floor, etc. So far I’ve been using meshes and then just size by life and growing/flattening them to mimic effects but I know that it doesn’t look very good so I wanted to take them to the ‘next level’. This is what i have so far: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/bMFzF54pndQ/maxresdefault.jpg "Feng Mao Ultimate #1") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMFzF54pndQ) As you can see, the mesh is noticeable where it clips with the floor and it looks basic (and a bit shit haha). I’ve been creating exactly what i want it to look like with a breakable RBD mesh in Houdini but cant figure out how to integrate that into a UE4 / Cascade effect. If anyone has any advice or tips on how to achieve this I’d love to hear it! Furthermore, if anyone has any critique on the effect as a whole that would be sick and super appreciated!! Thanks again (to the community in general) and everyone who has helped me so far. Chris 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pmiller](https://realtimevfx.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/a698b9/32.png) [@pmiller](https://realtimevfx.com/u/pmiller)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 9:34pm UTC](https://realtimevfx.com/t/wip-using-mesh-emitters-for-floor-based-effects/5788/2 "2018-09-17T21:34:33Z")
To answer your first bit, Thats exactlyh how i get an effect of rocks and stuff rising from the ground. I just animate their positon and size over life. As for the clipping, thats just a process of adding a bunch more effects to make sure the effect as a whole works together holistically, so you dont see those “errors” I know houdini and max export vtex animations, so yo u might look into that. ---
**Author:** ![NotSoLittleChris](https://realtimevfx.com/user_avatar/realtimevfx.com/notsolittlechris/32/5662_2.png) [@NotSoLittleChris](https://realtimevfx.com/u/NotSoLittleChris)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 8:35am UTC](https://realtimevfx.com/t/wip-using-mesh-emitters-for-floor-based-effects/5788/3 "2018-09-18T08:35:52Z")
Hey @pmiller Thanks for the comment. Well, I’m glad to hear that I’m tackling it with the right method. That’s a fair point, just making sure it works together. I’ll work on trying to make it seem more seamless and consistent. I’ll definitely look into that, could work well! Cheers man 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TobiasTobasco](https://realtimevfx.com/user_avatar/realtimevfx.com/tobiastobasco/32/25532_2.png) [@TobiasTobasco](https://realtimevfx.com/u/TobiasTobasco)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 8:48am UTC](https://realtimevfx.com/t/wip-using-mesh-emitters-for-floor-based-effects/5788/4 "2018-09-18T08:48:18Z")
Most likely you will always need to fake the transition between your erupting ground and whatever your normal state of ground is. Using simulated meshes as particles and then creating a transition these and your ground is a common way of doing this. If you don’t have a grey ground texture, you can for example use world space UVs to blend between your eruption meshes and your ground texture. Something like this: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/tyLSH5zF-rI/maxresdefault.jpg "UE4: Blending Meshes With Landscapes (or other meshes)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyLSH5zF-rI) If you already simulated your eruption in Houdini, you can just export it to Unreal. Look at the Houdini game tools for this. Also @Partikel has a tutorial, which might answer some of your Houdini-\>Unreal questions. [![](https://i.vimeocdn.com/video/697107375-47873e7649ac75bf59faedb73c19d625c74ac0492fd201927675d0e74d075ac2-d?f=webp "VAT Paintsplat! | Andreas Glad | Houdini for Games") ](https://vimeo.com/266717949) ---
**Author:** ![NotSoLittleChris](https://realtimevfx.com/user_avatar/realtimevfx.com/notsolittlechris/32/5662_2.png) [@NotSoLittleChris](https://realtimevfx.com/u/NotSoLittleChris)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 8:54am UTC](https://realtimevfx.com/t/wip-using-mesh-emitters-for-floor-based-effects/5788/5 "2018-09-18T08:54:29Z")
Hey @TobiasTobasco ! Thank you for sharing those two tutorials, that’s **exactly** what i’ve been looking for how to do. I’d managed to get the simulation into UE4, but only as a .fbx animation and couldnt figure out how to integrate that into the existing animation for the attack with the character. This should help me a lot, really appreciate it! Chris 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Partikel](https://realtimevfx.com/user_avatar/realtimevfx.com/partikel/32/1283_2.png) [@Partikel](https://realtimevfx.com/u/Partikel)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 9:40am UTC](https://realtimevfx.com/t/wip-using-mesh-emitters-for-floor-based-effects/5788/6 "2018-09-18T09:40:25Z")
Use POM. It can push both in and out fromthe decal so you can sculpt the intersecton any way you want it. In this example I just push it in, but if you just adjust the heightmap you can make crater silhouettes. https://player.vimeo.com/video/282890534?h=c670aed8a1&app_id=122963 Crater creation: https://player.vimeo.com/video/276718950?h=13362ee063&app_id=122963 Then just bake that out as a heightmap and use for the POM.