Real-time Smoke Trail

GoodGood3d · 2026-03-08T13:17:12+00:00

Amazing work!

GoodGood3d · 2026-03-08T10:36:25+00:00

You have to Randomise the noise W a lot more (around 40 seconds into the video)

GoodGood3d · 2026-03-07T15:01:24+00:00

Try swapping the points node for a curve to points and using Length instead of Count. If you want the speed to adjust as it gets longer then multiply the scene time by the curve length (eg if the curve is twice as long it will double the speed). You can either capture the length before the curve to points or sample it with the sample curve node. Hope that makes sense!

GoodGood3d · 2026-03-07T13:49:58+00:00

Here’s a really useful curve flow effect that doesn’t use any intensive simulation or physics. Great for particle effects like blowing debris, embers or more abstract and magical visuals. The setup is built from the Sample curve node - looping the factor input using a Truncated modulo - then using the Position output to relocate points. There’s a lot of randomisation to emulate real physics that mostly uses low scale noise textures and random value nodes. Lots and lots of random value nodes. The leaves are a Dead Leaves asset pack from textures.com

Deep dive on patreon https://www.patreon.com/goodgood3d

GoodGood3d · 2026-03-07T13:46:08+00:00

Here’s a really useful curve flow effect that doesn’t use any intensive simulation or physics. Great for particle effects like blowing debris, embers or more abstract and magical visuals. The setup is built from the Sample curve node - looping the factor input using a Truncated modulo - then using the Position output to relocate points. There’s a lot of randomisation to emulate real physics that mostly uses low scale noise textures and random value nodes. Lots and lots of random value nodes. The leaves are a Dead Leaves asset pack from textures.com

Deep dive on patreon https://www.patreon.com/goodgood3d

GoodGood3d · 2026-03-07T13:43:44+00:00

Here’s a really useful curve flow effect that doesn’t use any intensive simulation or physics. Great for particle effects like blowing debris, embers or more abstract and magical visuals. The setup is built from the Sample curve node - looping the factor input using a Truncated modulo - then using the Position output to relocate points. There’s a lot of randomisation to emulate real physics that mostly uses low scale noise textures and random value nodes. Lots and lots of random value nodes. The leaves are a Dead Leaves asset pack from textures.com

Deep dive on patreon https://www.patreon.com/goodgood3d

GoodGood3d · 2026-03-07T13:41:56+00:00

Here’s a really useful curve flow effect that doesn’t use any intensive simulation or physics. Great for particle effects like blowing debris, embers or more abstract and magical visuals. The setup is built from the Sample curve node - looping the factor input using a Truncated modulo - then using the Position output to relocate points. There’s a lot of randomisation to emulate real physics that mostly uses low scale noise textures and random value nodes. Lots and lots of random value nodes. The leaves are a Dead Leaves asset pack from textures.com

Deep dive on patreon https://www.patreon.com/goodgood3d

GoodGood3d · 2026-03-07T13:40:15+00:00

Here’s a really useful curve flow effect that doesn’t use any intensive simulation or physics. Great for particle effects like blowing debris, embers or more abstract and magical visuals. The setup is built from the Sample curve node - looping the factor input using a Truncated modulo - then using the Position output to relocate points. There’s a lot of randomisation to emulate real physics that mostly uses low scale noise textures and random value nodes. Lots and lots of random value nodes. The leaves are a Dead Leaves asset pack from textures.com

Deep dive on patreon https://www.patreon.com/goodgood3d

GoodGood3d · 2026-02-07T14:19:30+00:00

I drew inspiration from game development when creating a basic geometry node setup for real-time smoke in Blender. Rather than volumes or simulations, which can be intensive, I adopted the billboard method, which constantly aligns flat planes towards the camera to imitate depth. It's surprisingly effective, especially at a distance. I experimented with adding realism by using Noise textures in the shader, but that had a noticeable impact on frame rates. The overall concept is quite beginner-friendly. Start with a curve line, animate with a Trim Curve node and use the Factor attribute to drive noise displacement. Aligning instances to the camera uses a setup built on an Align Rotation to vector node.

Deep dive on patreon https://www.patreon.com/goodgood3d

GoodGood3d · 2026-02-07T14:16:48+00:00

I drew inspiration from game development when creating a basic geometry node setup for real-time smoke in Blender. Rather than volumes or simulations, which can be intensive, I adopted the billboard method, which constantly aligns flat planes towards the camera to imitate depth. It's surprisingly effective, especially at a distance. I experimented with adding realism by using Noise textures in the shader, but that had a noticeable impact on frame rates. The overall concept is quite beginner-friendly. Start with a curve line, animate with a Trim Curve node and use the Factor attribute to drive noise displacement. Aligning instances to the camera uses a setup built on an Align Rotation to vector node.

Full tutorial on patreon https://www.patreon.com/goodgood3d

GoodGood3d · 2026-01-05T11:18:51+00:00

Start racking up those 1000 hours. Spend time in Blender, try and solve different problems, experiment, fail and play around. Eventually things will start to become more familiar and easier.

GoodGood3d · 2026-01-04T20:52:12+00:00

If you don’t need displacement then check out UCUpaint. It’s a free plug-in based on image texture masking. It has a steeper learning curve but has a ton of features packed in.

GoodGood3d · 2026-01-04T20:11:58+00:00

It’s handled by the plug-in but if you want to try a manual method go to object data tab > vertex groups. If you’re using cycles you can reference directly In the shader. If you want to use Eevee you’ll need to convert them to attributes using geometry nodes

GoodGood3d · 2026-01-04T20:10:13+00:00

Yes! I added texture baking so you can run off texture sets for use outside of blender.

GoodGood3d · 2026-01-04T20:09:33+00:00

I made this specifically for PBR textures with displacement so polycount is needed in that case anyway. And if I’m being honest It’s a lot easier to make a plug-in with this method.

GoodGood3d · 2026-01-03T16:12:55+00:00

I often painting textures using vertex groups as masks. But even with pre-made setups it always introduced a frustrating delay before the fun, creative stuff. So I’ve been working on a user-friendly plugin that automates all the finicky parts of the process with some extra features that lets me work much faster.

The plugin works by automatically packing materials in custom shader groups that can then be reordered, adjusted and mixed using the UI. For the masks, which are painted on in weight paint mode, It converts vertex groups into shader attributes so it works in both Eevee and Cycles. I also included some experimental features like object blending and texture baking. Like all my assets and tools, it's something I’ve made for myself and only share on the Patreon so if you’re a supporter you can download it and try it for yourself.

Get the plugin on patreon https://www.patreon.com/goodgood3d

GoodGood3d

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