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Butterfly Kaleidoscope

This project uses POP instancing and CHOPs in Houdini to create a cinematic scene of a butterfly kaleidoscope instead of relying on a heavy vellum simulation.
The reference stood out because of the intricate wing movement, the density of the layout, and the complex subsurface scattering of the wings.

Reference Shots

Model Division

I modeled the butterflies from scratch, creating five subtle variations in shape and size to avoid uniform look
I divided my butterflies into 3 layers- Base, fluttering around and flying on top.

Butterfly Division

Used a CHOPs network to create a periodic wave function for wing flapping.
I originally used a Scatter node, but the butterflies would frequently cut through each other.
I transitioned to a POP Network using POP Interact, with the help of prof. Fowler which allowed the butterflies to recognize each other's boundaries and prevented clipping.

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