COMMERCIAL·2023·CONFIDENTIAL
MPM Snow
MPM Snow is a hero shot of a car cutting through fresh snow for an automotive spot. Snow is deceptively hard — it has to compact under the tyre, hold a crisp edge where it shears, and throw believable spray. The Material Point Method handles all three in one solve.
BREAKDOWN
Simulation
An elastoplastic snow model on an MPM solver: the hardening term controls how the snow crusts and fractures, while the tyre's velocity drives compaction. Contact with the car was the fiddly part — substepping on the fast frames kept it stable.
Secondary & render
Sheared chunks seed a finer spray/powder pass. Rendered in Karma with a translucent snow shader so the compacted tracks read denser than the loose spray.
SIMULATION NOTES
- Grid resolution drove the crispness of the shear edge more than particle count.
- CFL substepping on impact frames was non-negotiable for stability.
CREDITS
- CLIENT
- Confidential
- FX & R&D
- Dohzah
- YEAR
- 2023