Animation of Water Droplets Moving Down a Surface
Kazufumi Kaneda, Shinya Ikeda, Hideo Yamashita
The Journal of Visualization and Computer Animation,
Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 15-26 (1999)
ABSTRACT
Rendering a scene containing water is among the most challenging aspects
in the field of computer graphics.
Researchers have developed a wide variety of algorithms for rendering water,
but there still remain unaddressed problems, due to water's multiformity and
complex patterns of motion.
This paper proposes a method for generating realistic animation of
water droplets on transparent surfaces, such as the windshield of a vehicle,
for example.
One of the method's applications can be considered the animation of
water droplets on a windshield, a process vital for drive simulators.
The proposed method employs a particle system in a discrete environment
to calculate the movement of water droplets on a surface,
and environment mapping for indicating the property of transparency
to quickly render scenes through transparent objects.
Using the method, windshield wipers moving on a windshield
and other obstacles moving against water droplets
can also be taken into account.
Fully computer generated animations and video compositions of
water droplets on a windshield demonstrate the usefulness
of the proposed method.
Keywords: Computer Animation, Particle Systems, Discrete Model,
Environment Mapping, Video Composition
Digital Object Identifier 10.1002/(SICI)1099-1778(199901/03)10:1<15::AID-VIS192>3.0.CO;2-P
(a) Visualization of the simulation result (MPEG movie 1.3 MB).
(b) Street scene through a windshield (MPEG movie 1.4 MB).
(c) Street scene through a windshield (MPEG movie 1.2 MB).
(d) Compositing the flow of water droplets and video (MPEG movie 1.7 MB).
(e) Hazardous condition for a drive (MPEG movie 2.3 MB).
Figure 9: Examples of animation of water droplets on a windshield.
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