Chapter 1. Effective Water Simulation from Physical Models

Mark Finch Cyan Worlds

This chapter describes a system for simulating and rendering large bodies of water on the GPU. The system combines geometric undulations of a base mesh with generation of a dynamic normal map. The system has proven suitable for real-time game scenarios, having been used extensively in Cyan Worlds’ Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, as shown in Figure 1-1.

Tranquil Pond

A scene from Uru: Ages Beyond Myst

Figure 1-1. Tranquil Pond

Goals and Scope

Real-time rendering techniques have been migrating from the offline-rendering world over the last few years. Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) techniques, as ...

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