Opening quote created in Adobe Illustrator and imported into Houdini
3D text in Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator is used to create and refine the text as vector shapes. Those vectors can be expanded into full 3D form, adding depth, bevels, UVs, and basic material detail as needed, so the text is ready to export with accurate 3D topology.
In Houdini, the text is fractured and shattered using a rigid-body simulation
Text broken into fragments
Each letter is fractured into many detailed convex pieces in Houdini, producing high-resolution geometry that behaves realistically when driven by the rigid-body simulation.
The destruction sim then drives a GPU-based smoke simulation with the Axiom solver plugin:
RBD Simulation sources the debris simulation
The RBD destruction provides the data for the next stage, because as pieces separate, their interaction generates the points needed to seed the smoke effect.
Convert debris particles into smoke
Points created at newly exposed fracture surfaces are converted into emission sources. These sources are fed into Axiom’s GPU-based pyro solver, producing smoke much faster than the native Pyro Solver while keeping rich detail.
This workflow inspired the Shattering Image FX side project for complex 3D-text destruction
Text destruction with textures
The text can be shattered in many creative ways, such as being cut by a chainsaw or having fragments propelled in arbitrary directions.
Vertical 3D text destruction
Because the text is fully three-dimensional and made of thin strokes, the fracture sims look especially striking when viewed from different angles.