The setup combines FLIP simulation with Weta-like ripple waves.
Artur Durmishyan, a skilled Tech Artist and Key FX Artist at MPC Montreal, has showcased an impressive and realistic-looking flowing water simulation created with Houdini, a procedural 3D software developed by SideFX.
Set up in collaboration with Houdini Artist Dmitry Novoseltsev, the simulation combines Houdini's FLIP simulation with lifelike ripple waves inspired by Wave Curves, a method for simulating detailed Lagrangian water waves on dynamically deforming surfaces, presented by IST Austria and Weta Digital at SIGGRAPH 2020. Attached above is the spectacular demo shared by Artur, you can check out more of the artist's projects by visiting his LinkedIn and Vimeo pages.
For those unfamiliar, the approach in question functions as a post-processing step, taking a simulation as input and enhancing its resolution by simulating numerous detailed Lagrangian water waves on top of it. According to its creators, the method is numerically stable and easily parallelizable, producing high-frequency ripples with dispersive wave-like behaviors customized to the underlying fluid simulation. You can learn more about Wave Curves by clicking this link.
And here are some great tutorials that will help you learn more about simulating liquids in Houdini:
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