References
Some photos I took in Teufelshöhle Pottenstein.
General setup overview
Stalactite growth r&d
Fascinated by stalactite and stalagmite formations in caves, I wanted to recreate this intriguing growth process digitally in Houdini. At first, I tried using only height fields, which worked decently and was very fast, but of course, it resulted in just a 2d depth channel, which wasn’t enough. In the end, I used a mix of particles, a density volume, and an SDF volume for the final shape. This approach allows for a nice, string/root-like growth, similar to what can be observed in real-life, where the shape is defined by water flow along the surface. There is definitely room for improvement, as looking at references, there is so much more detail, but I think it mostly depends on the volume resolution and how much time I want to spend waiting, haha. Also, this would work for icicles.