Weta FX Achieves the Impossible: Groundbreaking Visual Effects Solution.
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The Future is Bubbles: Weta FX Revolutionizes Fluid Simulation
Wow! Goosebumps! I’ve just seen what I genuinely believe is one of the most impressive research works of the year. It’s about simulating bubbles, and the results are so stunning, I’m practically speechless. But only for a moment, because I need to share this with you.
Just look at the simulations produced by this research. It’s not reality; it’s a computer simulation, and I’m beyond excited to be able to show it to you. There was a moment when I thought I wouldn’t be able to share it. The work was done primarily by Weta FX, a visual effects powerhouse. After connecting with the paper’s authors, I’m delighted to say we’re in the clear! Happy, happy day.
The Challenge of Realistic Bubble Simulation
Think about pouring a glass of sparkling water. Millions of bubbles rise, collide, merge, and burst. It’s a miniature underwater orchestra. Now, try to recreate that in a movie or simulation. The difficulty lies in the fact that you could make the large bubbles appear good, or you could make the misty, small ones appear good, but you can’t accomplish both simultaneously. To get around this, artists usually have to fake it with two separate systems, and when those systems come together, things usually break. However, this research resolves that issue by using a single simulation to manage everything from a single bubble to enormous blobs.
The Revolutionary Technique
Existing work can simulate bubbles. This one handled everything as particles, allowing splashes to turn into foam and foam back into water. It’s so simple; I had to read the previous paper twice to believe that such a simple technique could work so well. Goodness, it works so well! Typically, simulating the production of bubbles or foam necessitates a large amount of computation. Instead, the study abandons that and uses the concept that bubbles and foam emerge in regions where air becomes trapped inside the fluid. Based on this information, they observe that wave crests are an example of this and offer a method for locating these wave crests by searching for areas.
Diving Deeper into the Simulation
Prior Particle Methods
Particle methods have long been used for fluid simulation, including bubbles. These methods represent the fluid as a collection of discrete particles that interact with each other based on physical laws. While particle methods can capture complex fluid behaviors like splashing and breaking waves, they often struggle with representing the sharp interfaces and surface tension effects that are crucial for realistic bubble simulation. The computational cost of particle methods can also be high, especially for large-scale simulations.
The Key Insight: Air Entrapment
The Weta FX research takes a different approach by focusing on the underlying physics of bubble formation. The key insight is that bubbles and foam typically form in regions where air becomes trapped within the fluid. This observation allows the researchers to develop a more efficient simulation method that directly models the air-fluid interface.
Wave Crest Detection
One of the key steps in the simulation pipeline is to identify regions where wave crests are forming. Wave crests are often associated with air entrapment, as they can create pockets of air that become surrounded by fluid. The researchers propose a method for detecting wave crests by analyzing the curvature of the fluid surface.
Implications and the Future of Visual Effects
This research has huge implications for the visual effects industry. Imagine the possibilities:
- More Realistic Water Effects: Movies and games can now feature water scenes with unprecedented realism.
- Improved Performance: A single system handling all bubble sizes reduces the need for complex workarounds, leading to faster simulations and shorter rendering times.
- Creative Freedom: Artists can focus on the creative aspects of their work without being limited by the technical challenges of simulating bubbles.
This research from Weta FX marks a significant step forward in fluid simulation. It tackles a long-standing problem with an innovative approach, resulting in stunning visuals. It’s a testament to the power of combining scientific understanding with artistic vision, and I can’t wait to see how it shapes the future of visual effects.
#Impossible #Weta #Solved
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Time for some more of the bestest papers ❤
kind comment
It's just sad that only enthusiasts about tech that mostly remain as papers. No one talks about it. Hopefully with Weta, we see this in movies etc
I know it's probably those damn A/B testings but I really can't with this sensationalist titles like the field is revolutionize every papers.
nooooooice
We need this in real-time. Now!
it's amazing how the simulation is simulating the invention of life being a simulation.
when in blender???????
Sebastian Lague's neck hairs are probably standing up right now.
ok yeah and the water in my video games still looks like garbage?
NEW ZEALAND MENTIONED RAHHH
god I love cool water physics
dope
6:30 IOW it's like the older method also a hybrid sparse-Euler-Lagrangian fluid simulation.
I'm not super excited for this but I thought no clipping paper is the best paper of the year it will have impact for video games someday.
Great as always
Your content is now featured on DailyDrops (Cv).
ME: Cool, That would be useful in making games and animations in a sea scene more believable!
My Inner Child: BUB, BUB, BUB, BUBBLES… Mah Bubbles!
I freaking love Two Minute Papers — every time I click on one of your videos, I just know I am going to enjoy myself, please never stop.
How long does it take to simulate? Maybe I missed it, but that would be very interesting like how many minutes or hours simulating a minute.
nature is a simple chick, she is all about pressure mediation. P.S. Blender team, I hope you're watching and will implement this in v5
@SebastianLague when's the video??
Weta's water fx are becoming, ahem,
weta
beautiful simulation of bubbles and foam? yes.
"the same physics we see in real life"? nah.
truly impressive work for sure.
8:21 how come no one has ever mentioned this part?!
So many channels only have an ask AI question box now, I’m glad you’re not implementing that, yet
fantastic paper!
Thats my country right there, always proud of Weta <3
Awesome!
i did not see how this would combine with fluid simulations, so in fact u gonna have to use both to get the resulta of water plus bubles
I was looking for some solutions to thin film fluid simulations and came across Stomakhin's paper on Thin Films. It was a short paper and while it didn't really help me, I was impressed by his portfolio. He was one of APIC's authors, and has several papers on MPM.
I would love to have a portfolio half as good as that.