Absinthe on the Rocks


Absinthe on the Rocks is a render following Andrew Price’s Create a Classy Fluid Simulation tutorial.

I named it Absinthe on the Rocks because of the color. If I’d planned on modeling Absinthe from the start, I’d have changed the shape of the glass to a more traditional Absinthe glass.

Things that hung me up while following the tutorial:

When I did the fluid sim, it seemed to get stuck. I didn’t realize I had to scrub through the animation frames to see the whole simulation. That took me a while to figure out.

Making the Ice Cubes – Andrew talks really fast, and apparently he’s got another tutorial specifically on making ice cubes, so he really rushes through the ice cube part. I had to pause the video many times to check out where he was in Blender so I could follow the work.

Also, when modifying the interior bubbles for the partly melted cube, I didn’t like just scaling the mesh down so it would fit, so I just deleted the vertices that poked out of the melted cube, which got rid of the bubbles that would otherwise be outside the melted part of the ice cube. I felt that gave a better finished product. However, Blender does not update the viewport until you toggle out of Edit mode to Object mode and back to Edit mode again. So if you edit a particle system emitter mesh, you should be aware of this behavior.

Finally, Andrew mentions some banding issues with the use of light emitting from the backplane (an image texture using a gradient fill). I didn’t solve this problem, and you can see some of the banding if you look closely where some of the green liquid splashes show through the glass. I don’t think it detracts too much from the image, drinking glasses have been known to have ridges on them, which could produce the same effect. Still, if anyone knows how to avoid this, I’d appreciate a comment.

…or maybe it’s an Appeltini but they are served in a cocktailglass I think.
It looks nice by the way.

I think the render turned out good overall. The banding could be considered flaws in the glass itself. On a side note: if you get to try it for the first time, tread carefully and just sip it slowly. My first was a train-wreck. :slight_smile:

Thanks guys. Yes, I guess it could be an Appletini or Midori on the rocks… but Absinthe has a reputation which adds to the backstory. :evilgrin:

Nice! What might be a cool expansion on the absinthe idea would be to model the sort of absinthe accoutrement like the slotted spoons, the typical absinthe glass, etc.

Nice image Orinoco! But wouldn’t absinthe form a cloudy louche when poured onto ice, just as it does when I use the spoon? There’s a texturing /materials challenge for you.

And a research challenge as well :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: I may have to revisit this image…

Thanks for the suggestions, both CD38 and Tyto alba.

You obviously have never drunk Absinthe - at least not properly. You NEVER ever pour Absinthe onto ice cubes. EVER. If you want ice cubes you add it to the water - which is added to the Absinthe. Ice cubes are added to an Absinthe cocktail which such little Absinthe it’s not even worthy of the name.

Sorry it that’s rantish but my gods, I’ve never seen such abuse of a drink in my life.

Secondly, the color is all wrong. Not sure what you’re using as a reference photo but Absinthe is a lime green color usually - like lime jello. That color looks bizarre or some sort of cocktail.

It’s not rantish, KuroOokami, it’s trollish. You have no idea what I have or have not done. I’ll tell you what, I’ll stop offering suggestions for improvements in your threads, if you stop posting in mine. Deal?

Meanwhile, you might consider reading a post, instead of just reacting to the title and the posted image.

I think it’s very pretty. I like the subtle coloring. Out of the many I’ve seen, it’s one of the more imaginative takes on that tutorial.