The Art of Fluid Animation

by Jos Stam

Overview

Fluid simulation is a computer graphic used to develop realistic animation of liquids in modern games. The Art of Fluid Animation describes visually rich techniques for creating fluid-like animations that do not require advanced physics or mathematical skills. It explains how to create fluid animations like water, smoke, fire, and explosions through computer code in a fun manner.

The book presents concepts that drive fluid animation and gives a historical background of the computation of fluids. It covers many research areas that include stable fluid simulation, flows on surfaces, and control of flows. It also gives one-paragraph summaries of the material after each section for reinforcement.

This book includes computer code that readers can download and run on several platforms so they can extend their work beyond what is described in the book. The material provided here is designed to serve as a starting point for aspiring programmers to begin creating their own programs using fluid animation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781498700207
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/28/2015
Pages:	279
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Jos Stam is a senior research scientist with Autodesk. He was born in the Netherlands and educated in Geneva, Switzerland, where he received dual bachelor degrees in computer science and pure mathematics. In 1989 he moved to Toronto, where he completed his master's and PhD in computer science. His research spans several areas of computer graphics: natural phenomena, physics-based simulation, rendering, and surface modeling, especially subdivision surfaces. He has published papers in all of these areas in journals and at conferences. In 2005 he received the SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics Achievement Award, one of the most prestigious awards in computer graphics. He also won two Technical Achievement Awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science and has been featured in Wired magazine.

Table of Contents

Introduction. Observations, Equations, and Numbers. Euler-Newton Equations or Navier-Stokes Equations. The Early Days of Computational Fluid Dynamics. Kolmogorov and Turbulence. Introduction to Fluid Animation. Intermezzi. A Simple Fluid Solver. The Little Computers Who Can Handle Fluids. The Smart Phones Who Can Handle Fluids. Fluid FX: Version 2.0 of Autodesk Fluid. Show Time! MAYA Fluid Effects. Fluids on Arbitrary Surfaces. Control Freaks! How to Make Fluids Do What We Want. Real Experiments, Computer Experiments, and Validation. Epilogue: Let's Call It Quits.