Liquid Simulation Series: Hornitos Tequila part 3

Having recently finished simulating the surging dam and its conglomeration of splashes for Mountain Dew, the work for Hornitos seemed almost easy.  However, creating the smooth, sultry flow of tequila presented its own challenges.

Taking the physically accurate model of the Hornitos bottle seen in the previous post, the team filled it with fluid particles.  Because the shot required the tequila to pour from the tilted bottle, the primary challenge was getting the pressure pockets of air to travel through the neck of the bottle to convincingly create the ‘glugging’ of effect of liquid pouring through a constricted pathway.  Having ironed out this detail, the team applied the proper viscosity to the liquid and then subjected it to other physical properties including gravity and noise to give it believable flow and movement. 

Cascading across the embossed, channeled surface, the liquid needed to feel light and delicate.  Because the shot was quite close up, the spacing of the particles became an issue as, at that close viewing range, the particles were too far apart to be construed as a proper viscous liquid.  To ameliorate this issue, the team multiplied the resolution of the particles by a factor of 20 helping them achieve a more convincing result.

This shot of the tequila filling in the horns was the most complex of the entire spot.  To accomplish the desired aesthetic with proper splashes, the team composed the main fluid with several smaller simulations.  This allowed them to more easily tweak various locations of the fluid.  The simulation was run at a higher frame rate than the rest of the spot, essentially slowing the simulation to allow for greater control over the splashes.  The simulated particles then had to be pushed back the proper frame rate; NextLimit’s new particle retiming tool within RealFlow became indispensible in this situation. Once the main simulation was complete, the team continued to introduce new fluid systems to fill in the gaps within the horns.

After modeling all of the elements and perfecting the liquid simulation, the last step in creating this spot was lighting and rendering.  Check back tomorrow for the last post!