RealFlow is a fluid and dynamics simulator for the 3D industry, created by Madrid-based Next Limit Technologies

Next Limit Technologies

Next Limit Technologies is a computer software company based in Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1998 by engineers Victor Gonzalez Sanchez and Ignacio Vargas the firm now creates cross-platform particle simulation and light simulation software for fluid and rigid body modeling, and accurate visual rendering...

. Currently at version 2012, the stand-alone application can be used to simulate fluids, water surfaces, fluid-solid interactions, rigid bodies, soft bodies and meshes. Victor Gonzalez, Ignacio Vargas and Angel Tena were awarded a 2007 Technical Achievement Award

Academy Award for Technical Achievement

The Technical Achievement Award is a kind of Scientific and Technical Award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to those whose particular technical accomplishments have contributed to the progress of the motion picture industry and who are given a certificate, which describes...

 from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...

 for the creation of the RealFlow software application.

The technology uses particle based simulations. These particles can be influenced in a multitude of ways by point-based nodes, known as daemons, which can do anything from simulating gravity to recreating the vortex-like motion of a tornado. RealFlow can also simulate soft and rigid body collisions and interactions.
The inclusion of Python scripting and C++ plug-ins allows users to program their own tools to boost RealFlow capabilities, adding control to most aspects of the RealFlow workflow including batch runs, events, daemons, waves and fluids.

Uses of RealFlow

Feature motion pictures

• Watchmen
  Watchmen (film)
  Watchmen is a 2009 superhero film directed by Zack Snyder and starring Malin Åkerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson. It is an adaptation of the comic book of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons...
  
  
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (film)
  The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (film)
  The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a 2008 American fantasy-drama film directed by David Fincher. The screenplay by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord is loosely based on the 1922 short story of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald...
  
  
• Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
• National Treasure: Book of Secrets
• City of Ember
  City of Ember
  City of Ember is a 2008 science fiction-fantasy film based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Jeanne DuPrau. It was directed by Gil Kenan from a screenplay by Caroline Thompson, and stars Saoirse Ronan, Harry Treadaway, Bill Murray, Mackenzie Crook, Martin Landau and Tim Robbins.-Plot:In the...
  
  
• Meet the Robinsons
  Meet the Robinsons
  Meet the Robinsons is a 2007 American computer-animated family film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures on March 30, 2007. The forty-seventh animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics, the film was released in both the United States and the...
  
  
• 300
  300 (film)
  300 is a 2007 American fantasy action film based on the 1998 comic series of the same name by Frank Miller. It is a fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae. The film was directed by Zack Snyder, while Miller served as executive producer and consultant...
  
  
• Primeval
• Poseidon
  Poseidon (film)
  Poseidon is a 2006 disaster film directed by Wolfgang Petersen, the third film adaptation of the novel The Poseidon Adventure written by Paul Gallico, and a loose remake of the 1972 film of the same name. It stars Kurt Russell, Josh Lucas and Richard Dreyfuss. It was directed by Wolfgang Petersen...
  
  
• The Guardian (2006 film)
  The Guardian (2006 film)
  The Guardian is a 2006 action-adventure drama film starring Kevin Costner, Ashton Kutcher, and Melissa Sagemiller. The film was released on September 29, 2006, and was directed by Andrew Davis, director of The Fugitive...
  
  
• Ice Age: The Meltdown
  Ice Age: The Meltdown
  Ice Age: The Meltdown, also known as Ice Age 2: The Meltdown or simply as Ice Age 2, is the 2006 sequel to the 2002 computer-animated film Ice Age. It was produced by Blue Sky Studios for 20th Century Fox, and premiered in Belgium on March 1, 2006...
  
  
• X-Men: The Last Stand
  X-Men: The Last Stand
  X-Men: The Last Stand is a 2006 superhero film and the third in the X-Men series. It was directed by Brett Ratner and stars an ensemble cast including Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, Kelsey Grammer, Anna Paquin, Shawn Ashmore, Aaron Stanford, Vinnie Jones,...
  
  
• Slither
• The Da Vinci Code
  The Da Vinci Code (film)
  The Da Vinci Code is a 2006 American mystery thriller film directed by Ron Howard. The screenplay was written by Akiva Goldsman and based on Dan Brown's worldwide bestselling 2003 novel, The Da Vinci Code...
  
  
• Chicken Little
• Robots
  Robots (film)
  Robots is a 2005 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Blue Sky Studios for 20th Century Fox, and was released theatrically on March 11, 2005. The story was created by Chris Wedge and William Joyce, a children's book author/illustrator. The two were trying to create a film version of...
  
  
• The Incredibles
  The Incredibles
  The Incredibles is a 2004 American computer-animated action-comedy superhero film about a family of superheroes who are forced to hide their powers. It was written and directed by Brad Bird, a former director and executive consultant of The Simpsons, and was produced by Pixar and distributed by...
  
  
• Constantine
  Constantine (film)
  Constantine is a 2005 American action horror film directed by Francis Lawrence as his directorial debut, starring Keanu Reeves as John Constantine, with Rachel Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, Tilda Swinton, and Djimon Hounsou...
  
  
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (film)
  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a 2005 film adaptation of the 1964 book of the same name by Roald Dahl. The film was directed by Tim Burton. The film stars Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket and Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka...
  
  
• The Matrix Reloaded
  The Matrix Reloaded
  The Matrix Reloaded is a 2003 American science fiction film and the second installment in The Matrix trilogy, written and directed by the Wachowskis. It premiered on May 7, 2003, in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, and went on general release by Warner Bros. in North American theaters on May 15,...
  
  
• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
  The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
  The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a comic book series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill, publication of which began in 1999. The series spans two six-issue limited series and a graphic novel from the America's Best Comics imprint of Wildstorm/DC, and a third miniseries...
  
  
• Spy Kids 3D
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
  The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
  The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 epic fantasy-drama film directed by Peter Jackson that is based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings...
  
  
• Freddy vs. Jason
  Freddy vs. Jason
  Freddy vs. Jason is a 2003 American slasher film directed by Ronny Yu. The film is a crossover between the A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th franchises...
  
  
• Minority Report
  Minority Report (film)
  Minority Report is a 2002 American neo-noir science fiction film directed by Steven Spielberg and loosely based on the short story "The Minority Report" by Philip K. Dick. It is set primarily in Washington, D.C...
  
  
• Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
  Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
  Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is a 2001 Japanese-American computer animated science fiction film directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of the Final Fantasy series of role-playing video games. It was the first photorealistic computer animated feature film and also holds the record for the most...
  
  
• Ice Age
  Ice Age (film)
  Ice Age is a 2002 American computer-animated film created by Blue Sky Studios and released by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Carlos Saldanha and Chris Wedge from a story by Michael J. Wilson. The story follows three Paleolithical mammals attempting to return a lost human baby to its parents...
  
  
• Tomb Raider
• Lost in Space
  Lost in Space (film)
  Lost in Space is a 1998 American science fiction film starring Gary Oldman and William Hurt. The film was shot in London and Shepperton, and produced by New Line Cinema. The plot is adapted from the 1965–1968 CBS television series Lost In Space...
  
  

Television series

• Lost
  Lost (TV series)
  Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
  
  
• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
  CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
  CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
  
  
• Get Ed
  Get Ed
  Get Ed is an American computer-animated television series which debuted in 2005 that aired as a part of the Jetix programming block on the United States cable television network Toon Disney until the channel closed in 2009, and also used to run on the ABC Family channel before they switched over to...
  
  
• Rome
  Rome (TV series)
  Rome is a British-American–Italian historical drama television series created by Bruno Heller, John Milius and William J. MacDonald. The show's two seasons premiered in 2005 and 2007, and were later released on DVD. Rome is set in the 1st century BC, during Ancient Rome's transition from Republic...
  
  
• U2/ Greenday video clip: “The Saints are Coming”

Commercials

• Kraft Macaroni & Cheese
• Discovery Channel
  Discovery Channel
  Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
  
  
• Coca Cola
• Harpic (Cleaning Product)
  Harpic (cleaning product)
  Harpic is the brand name of a toilet bowl cleaner launched in England in the 1920s and now marketed by Reckitt Benckiser.The brand is now available in Africa, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and Eastern Europe....
  
  
• Amp'd Mobile
  Amp'd Mobile
  Amp'd Mobile was a mobile phone service launched in the United States in late 2005, and shortly in Canada in early 2007. The company was a Mobile Virtual Network Operator.Its primary non-Venture Capital investors were MTV Networks and Universal Music Group...
  
  
• Strathmore Water
• Cinnamon Toast Crunch
  Cinnamon Toast Crunch
  Cinnamon Toast Crunch is a brand of breakfast cereal produced by General Mills and Nestle. The cereal was first produced in 1984...
  
  
• Nissan GT-R
  Nissan GT-R
  The Nissan GT-R is a sports car produced by Nissan released in Japan on December 6, 2007, the United States on July 4, 2008, and the rest of the world in March 2009.-History:...
  
  
• Bacardi
  Bacardi
  Bacardi is a family-controlled spirits company, best known as a producer of rums, including Bacardi Superior and Bacardi 151. The company sells in excess of 200 million bottles per year in nearly 100 countries...
  
  
• Nickelodeon
  Nickelodeon (TV channel)
  Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
  
  
• Mercedes
  Mercedes-Benz
  Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
  
  
• Sony Ericsson
  Sony Ericsson
  Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB is a joint venture established on October 1, 2001 by the Japanese consumer electronics company Sony Corporation and the Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson to manufacture mobile phones....
  
  
• Renault Laguna
  Renault Laguna
  The Renault Laguna is a large family car produced by the French manufacturer Renault. The first Laguna was launched in 1993, the second generation was launched in 2000, and the third generation was made available for sale in October 2007....
  
  
• Nescafe Nespresso
  Nespresso
  Nespresso is the brand name of Nestlé Nespresso S.A., an operating unit of the Nestlé Group based in Lausanne, Switzerland. Nespresso machines brew espresso from special capsules containing ground coffee.- History :...
  
  
• Kellogg's Frosties
• Chase Bank
• Guinness
  Guinness
  Guinness is a popular Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin. Guinness is directly descended from the porter style that originated in London in the early 18th century and is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide, brewed in almost...
  
  
• Heineken
  Heineken
  Heineken is a Dutch beer which has been brewed by Heineken International since 1873. It is available in a 4.6% alcohol variety in countries such as Ireland. It is the flagship product of the Heineken company and is made of purified water, malted barley, hops, and yeast. In 1886 H...
  
  
• Grand Marnier
  Grand Marnier
  Grand Marnier is a liqueur created in 1880 by Alexandre Marnier-Lapostolle. It is made from a blend of true cognacs and distilled essence of bitter orange. Grand Marnier is 40% alcohol . It is produced in several varieties, most of which can be consumed "neat" as a digestif and can be used in...
  
  
• Ariel Washing Powder
  Ariel (laundry)
  Ariel is a marketing line of laundry detergents made by Procter & Gamble. It is the flagship brand in Procter & Gamble's European, Mexican, Japanese, Brazilian, Peruvian, Turkish, Filipino, Colombian and Venezuelan portfolios. In some U.S. stores, Mexican Ariel is available.Ariel first appeared on...
  
  
• Biotherm
  Biotherm
  Biotherm is a luxury skin care company owned by L'Oréal under the Luxury Products division. Biotherm was acquired by L'Oréal in 1970. It is developed and manufactured in research laboratories in Monaco, under the direction of biologist Lucien Aubert and his team of researchers.Biotherm originated...
  
  
• Vichy
  Vichy
  Vichy is a commune in the department of Allier in Auvergne in central France. It belongs to the historic province of Bourbonnais.It is known as a spa and resort town and was the de facto capital of Vichy France during the World War II Nazi German occupation from 1940 to 1944.The town's inhabitants...
  
  
• Nescafe
  Nescafé
  Nescafé is a brand of instant coffee made by Nestlé. It comes in the form of many different products. The name is a portmanteau of the words "Nestlé" and "café". Nestlé's flagship powdered coffee product was introduced in Switzerland on April 1, 1938 after being developed for seven or eight years...
  
  
• Pontiac
  Pontiac
  Pontiac was an automobile brand that was established in 1926 as a companion make for General Motors' Oakland. Quickly overtaking its parent in popularity, it supplanted the Oakland brand entirely by 1933 and, for most of its life, became a companion make for Chevrolet. Pontiac was sold in the...
  
  
• Gatorade
  Gatorade
  Gatorade is a brand of sports-themed food and beverage products, built around its signature product: a line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo, distributed in over 80 countries...
  
  
• Carlsberg
• Telia Xpress/ Motorola
• Martini
• BMW
  BMW
  Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
  
  
• Land Rover
  Land Rover
  Land Rover is a British car manufacturer with its headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire, United Kingdom which specialises in four-wheel-drive vehicles. It is owned by the Indian company Tata Motors, forming part of their Jaguar Land Rover group...
  
  

System requirements

Windows

• Windows XP Professional
• Windows Vista
  Windows Vista
  Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
  
   / 7
• Windows Server 2008

Mac OS X

• Mac OS 10.5 or later

Linux

• Needs a 64-bit distribution
  Linux distribution
  A Linux distribution is a member of the family of Unix-like operating systems built on top of the Linux kernel. Such distributions are operating systems including a large collection of software applications such as word processors, spreadsheets, media players, and database applications...
  
   that supports a 2.6.x kernel
  Linux kernel
  The Linux kernel is an operating system kernel used by the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software....
  
   and glibc 2.5

Hardware requirements

• 2Ghz Intel Pentium 4 / AMD Athlon 64 or better
• 2GB minimum, 4GB recommended
• 300 - 1,000MB hard drive space, depending on operating system
• Hardware-accelerated OpenGL
  OpenGL
  OpenGL is a standard specification defining a cross-language, cross-platform API for writing applications that produce 2D and 3D computer graphics. The interface consists of over 250 different function calls which can be used to draw complex three-dimensional scenes from simple primitives. OpenGL...
  
  graphics card
• 3 button mouse

List of features

RealFlow

• Particle based solver (liquid, gas, elastic and dumb particles)
• Interaction bitmaps
• Custom particle behaviour
• UV data and weight maps
• UV texture mapping
• Automatic mesh generator
• Force fields
• Python / C++ plugins

Hybrido

• Hybrid fluid solver technology to simulate large bodies of water with sophisticated secondary effects, like splashes, foam and mist

Caronte

• Rigid/Soft body dynamics solver
• Mix animation and dynamics

RealWave

• Physically accurate water surfaces

Python scripting / C++ plugins

• Daemons
• Waves
• Fluids
• Events
• Batch runs