MODELLING AND RENDERING LIQUIDS IN MOTION
Alan Murta and James Miller
Advanced Interfaces Group
Department of Computer Science
University of Manchester
M13 9PL, UK
amurta@cs.man.ac.uk
ABSTRACT
An experimental method for modelling and rendering liquids in motion is
presented. A particle system is used to model dynamic liquid behaviour,
while implicit surfaces serve as a wrapper to support realistic rendering
methods. Aspects of particle-environment interaction and the use
of dynamically sized particle primitives are discussed. Techniques used in
the generation of implicit surfaces are also described, including
environmental distortions of surface profiles and the management of surface
extents to maintain constant volume. Preliminary work on multi-fluid
interactions is also outlined. A custom ray tracer is used for final image
generation, and several examples of the liquid modelling system are
provided as an illustration of the method.
CR Categories: I.3.3 Computer Graphics]: Picture/Image
Generation; I.3.5 [Computer Graphics]: Object Modeling; I.3.7
[Computer Graphics]: Three-Dimensional Graphics and Realism.
Keywords: Natural phenomena, ray tracing, particle systems,
implicit surfaces.