Blood circulation is a common feature in many medical animations, but is typically represented with every blood cell traveling at the same speed as the next, and with vast aqueous spaces between them. In reality, blood cells occupy more than 40% of the overall blood volume, and their speed varies as a function of their radial position (objects closer to the centre move faster than those at the edge). This tutorial will cover how to use nParticles and fields in Maya to simulate this type of motion, including rotational/directional responsiveness to collisions. Instancer will also be used to control the geometry assigned to the nParticles.

I wrote this tutorial for the Peel Animation Festival, a science animation outreach program for high school students (you can see more evidence of how much fun this event was here). In this lesson, we will look at how to use texture maps, parenting, and keyframes to transform primitive spheres into an animated solar system. These are all fundamental basics in 3D animation. Here is an example of what you can make by following the tutorial. You can make it as complex as you want using the same principles - add more planets, or moons orbiting those planets.