Animation_sim

Houdini Digital Asset (animation_sim) for configuring drone simulation physics during show animation. Controls collision avoidance, speed limits, and acceleration constraints.

HDA: houdinitools/hda/animation_sim.hda

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
Min distance m `min_distance`	Float	2	Distance in meters the simulation keeps between any two drones. It holds only with enough margin in Soft bounce; check the result with the Checker.
Soft bounce `soft_bounce`	Float	2.05	Distance in meters at which drones start steering away from each other, ahead of Min distance. Keep a real margin above Min distance (1.5 × Min distance is a good start): with a thin one drones reach Min distance at full speed and come closer than it.
Sim start frame `sim_start_frame`	Integer	1	Frame the simulation starts from. On it drones stand at the input positions.
Reset Simulation `resimulate`	Button	—	Clear the cached simulation and run it again from Sim start frame.
Enable correction solver `enable_correction_solver`	Toggle	Off	Run the simulation a second time, following the result of the first pass. Use it when the first pass still leaves drones too close.

Usage

Set collision params — Min distance m sets hard separation, Soft bounce sets the radius where repulsion starts
Speed limits — Set Max speed m/s for horizontal movement. Enable Vertical speed limit and set Max vertical speed m/s if vertical velocity should be constrained separately
Acceleration — Max acceleration m/s² controls how quickly drones can change speed
Repulsion — Repulsion scale adjusts overall avoidance force. Higher = more aggressive separation

Video tutorials

Dronatello Course #24 — Running a Full Drone Show Simulation (1,000 Drones)It's time to calculate the entire show. We run the full physics simulation for 1,000 drones across a 12-minute show, review real computation performance, and do a first visual pass over the results.