Dry Ice effect

[muzashi]

Does anyone have any idea of achieving Dry Ice kind of effect which I try to set it up by using Maya Fluid. Direction is a very hard one which I notice how Dry Ice float up a bit during emission and then fall down like it has some weight itself. The point is how can I make it curl while floating above the ground and collide to object softly like a cloud. I couldn't really tune in Fluid attribute or does someone have any expression to control it specifically. Will appreciate any reply...!

[andersegleus]

Just off the top of my head:

You could make the emitter emit both heat and density, then with a positive gravity value (the default) You could set the density buoyancy to a negative value and temperature buoyancy to a (probably considerably higher) positive value, and play with temperature dissipation to make the content loose heat over time.

If I'm right, this should the content rise initially, then fall as the temperature lowers.

To make it stay above the ground, if it isn't enough to have the boundary stop it from falling, you could either try a collission plane a bit above the lower boundary, or you could have a plane emit heat only at the bottom.

I haven't tried any of this though, so I don't know if it works.