Rendering Natural Waters
Eighth Pacific Conference on Computer Graphics and Applications,
October 2000
Authors
Abstract
Creating and rendering realistic water is one of the most daunting
tasks in computer graphics. Realistic rendering of water requires that
the sunlight and skylight illumination are correct, the water surface
is modeled accurately and that the light transport within water body
is properly handled. This paper describes a method for wave generation
on a water surface using a physically-based approach. The wave generation uses
data from the oceanographical observations and it is controlled by intuitive
parameters such as wind speed and wind direction. The optical behavior
of the water surfaces is complex but is well-described in the ocean
science literature. We present a simple and intuitive light transport
approach that is easy to use for many different water types such as
deep ocean water, muddy coastal water, and fresh water bodies. We
demonstrate our model for a number of water and atmospheric conditions.
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