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Achieve Natural-Looking Color Mixing In Houdini With Kubelka-Munk Algorithm

Learn how to produce nice-looking colors in your fluid simulations with Jakob Bock's article.

Color mixing in computer graphics typically uses simple linear blending in RGB space, with other methods like HSV blending aiming for more intuitive transitions. However, these techniques don't accurately replicate how real-world materials mix pigments.

In the 1930s, scientists Paul Kubelka and Franz Munk published a paper called A Contribution to the Optics of Paint Layers. The Kubelka-Munk model offers a physically based approach to color mixing, particularly useful for rendering paints and translucent materials. Jakob Bock, also known as vanity ibex, wrote a blog post discussing implementing the KM model in Houdini's VEX language with practical use cases.

This method is especially useful for point-based fluid simulations, with FLIP, POP, or Vellum fluids being the most obvious applications. Although the implementation is simplified, it could be enhanced by introducing real pigment data for more accurate color mixing.

Read the article here and support Jakob's work by purchasing the scene files by clicking this link.

Visit Jacob's blog for more useful tips and tricks and join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on InstagramTwitterLinkedInTelegramTikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, and awesome artworks.

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