This thesis project addresses the need for an interactive, real-time water animation technique that can showcase visually convincing effects such as splashes and breaking waves while being computationally inexpensive. Our method couples SPH and wave equations in a one-way manner to simulate the behavior of water in real-time, leveraging OpenGL’s Compute Shaders for interactive performance and a novel Uniform Grid implementation. Through a review of related literature on real-time simulation methods of fluids, and water animation, this thesis presents a feasible algorithm, animations to showcase interesting water effects, and a comparison of computational costs between SPH, wave equations, and the coupled approach. The program renders a water body with a planar surface and discrete particles. This project aims to provide a solution that can meet the needs of various water animation use-cases, such as games, and movies, by offering a computationally efficient technique that can animate water to behave plausibly and showcase essential effects in real-time.
Full paper can be read here
