Reactor (Havok)

Reactor is a physics engine from the Irish software company Havok for use in Autodesk 3D Studio Max.

Overview

Reactor ships with 3ds max, fully integrated, in Max versions 5 and up. Reactor is often used for realistic physics simulation that would otherwise be unrealistic and take a large amount of time if animated by hand.

Dynamics types

Reactor is capable of computing rigid body, soft body, cloth and rope collisions, and even all four types interacting with each other. A robust physics engine, reactor can handle several hundred rigid bodies interacting with each other without a problem on most computers. reactor can also simulate dynamics of any supported type interacting with a water volume, including adjustable viscosity and depth, among other things.

Forces and constraints

Reactor includes a large number of forces that can be used in simulation, apart from the default gravity: springs, dashpots, motors, wind, fractures (breakable objects), even a "toy car" type, with definable body/axis/wheels. Reactor also has many constraints available, including hinges, point-to-point constraints, prismatic constraints, car-wheel constraints, point-to-path constraints, and even ragdoll constraints to realistically simulate a lifeless body. In addition, reactor is compatible with Space Warp modifiers in 3ds max