Select the Phoenix Simulator → Go to Scene Interaction rollout. Add the PCloud to the exclusion list.
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Though every hidden object is excluded by default, in later steps, we will unhide the PCloud. However, there is a chance to forget to hide it again and it may affect our fluid simulation. Therefore, we added the PCloud to the exclude list as a precautionary step.
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Set the Simulator → Simulation rollout → Stop Frame to 38.
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The Timeline checkbox needs to be disabled for the numerical field to become untemplated. By default, the Timeline checkbox specifies the Start Frame as the first frame on the Timeline.
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The shape of the simulated smoke changes over time. You can use more or less frames for the simulation, to get the desired formation of the smoke (nebula). In this case, we choose to simulate to frame 38.
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Here is a Preview Animation of the simulation up to this step. It looks a bit dull now. It isn't anything like a nebula at all.
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To enable the GPU Preview as seen in the video, select the Phoenix Simulator → Preview rollout → GPU Preview → Enable in Viewport.
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At this step, the nebula appears blue because the color of the Omni 001 is set to a light blue color.
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<iframe width="800" height="450" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WocHKdysaWM" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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Due to the sheer amount of the cache data, if your viewport become less responsive, you can select the Phoenix Simulator → Go to Preview rollout → Read Cache for Preview, and temporarily change it to Don't Preview the Caches. Just be sure to switch back to Always when you need to see the cache preview.
In the final scene "nebula_max2017_final.max", the simulators are set to Don't Preview Caches for the same reason.
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Here is a test rendering up to this step.
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For test rendering, we set the Time Limit to 10.0 for the V-Ray GPU renderer. You can adjust the time limit depending on your hardware.
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The lights in the provided scene file are carefully positioned in the crevices of the smoke formation. If you didn't follow the exact steps of this tutorial (i.e: smoke is emitted from a different geometry), your render may be completely dark. You can nudge the lights to a sparse space so they won't be occluded by the smoke.
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To further enhance the realism of the nebula, select the Phoenix Simulator, go to Rendering rollout → Volumetric Options. In the Smoke Opacity rollout, set the Absorption Constant Color to RGB (91, 96, 55).
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The absorption color set here is basically complimentary to the purple color of the nebula. However, you can choose other color.
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Here is the final image. You can see additional details in the nebula color thanks to the smoke absorption color settings.
