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The rendering process in Phoenix FD is separated from the simulation, but for ease of operation is performed by the same object that performs the simulation. However, this is only true for the grid's content, not for the particles contained in the cache file. If you want to render the secondary effect particles (foam, splashes, or drag particles), create a Particle Shader object and connect it to the simulatorand add the Simulator to it, so the Particle Shader can use the cache data loaded by the Simulator.

The surface rendering modes of the Phoenix Simulator make it behave just like any regular geometry - 3ds Max materials can be applied to the Simulator.Phoenix FD is able to operate in multiple rendering modes that can be divided into two main branches: volumetrics and surfaces. The volumetric modes are used for fire and smoke. 3ds Max materials can't be used to shade volumetrics, so their shading is described in the Fire and Smoke color rollouts. 

The liquid surface of a PhoenixFD simulation is generated from the Liquid Particles. The particles are converted into a mesh and shaded by the material assigned to the simulator object. This section contains the controls for this meshing process.

Advanced control over the shading is provided with the Phoenix Grid Texture which can be used to drive the properties of a material applied to a liquid surface. For Volumetric rendering, Phoenix FD provides you with the ability to drive the color and opacity of Fire / Smoke simulations through any of the supported channels (such as Smoke, Speed, RGB, etc.), as long as they are present in the cache files.

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