Author: NL Team

Publication: 16/06/2010
Category: RealWave Emitters
Type: Tutorial

RealWave Emitters / Tutorial

Object Splash

1. Object Splash

The Object Splash emitter is a fully featured emitter that only works in combination with a RealWave object.
Another requirement is an object to interact with the wave surface. From the moment the selected objects
react with the RealWave mesh, the emitter starts creating particles from the interacting polygons, resulting
in a splash-like particle cloud. The amount of emitted particles strongly depends on factors like number of
polygons, velocity, entrance angle, object mass, and of course resolution. Therefore it´s hard to predict
how the final splash will turn out.

Object Splash introduces two different panels to adjust a wide range of parameters. The first panel
concerns the interaction of the splash particles with the object; the other affects the process of particle
creation. The RW Particle Interaction panel is available for any standard particle emitter panel and will only
be accessible when a RealWave surface exists and an interaction (Global Links/Exclusive Links, see
Related Tutorials below) with the emitter and the RealWave object has been established.

Please visit Related Tutorials below for a detailed description about Node, Initial State, Particles, Statistics
and Display panels.

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2. The RW Particle Interaction Panel

This is the place to adjust the particles´ behaviour when they hit the surface or sink below it. RW Particle
Interaction is also responsible for secondary waves created by a particle´s force. These ripples can be
seen in the last of the images above. Whenever you´re working with splash or crest particles, you should
pay special attention to this panel, because it greatly enhances a simulation´s credibility.

Upward force
Particles below the water surface always try to move in the direction of the surface and counteract gravity.
This tendency can be adjusted with "Upward force".

Destroy on depth
Particles that reach the entered depth will be deleted and removed from the scene. This value strongly
depends on the wave modifier you use and the final wave height.

On surface
You can choose from three options: "No interact", "Destroy" and "Place". "No interact" makes the particle
fall through the RealWave surface – there they can be deleted with a k Volume daemon, for
example. "Destroy" automatically removes the particles when they hit the surface, and with "Place" they
float on the surface. With "Place", particles might accumulate between the wave crests and should be
deleted with a k Age daemon.

@ Friction
This parameter is only available when "On surface" is set to "Place". You can adjust the particles' friction to

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make them stay closer to the object for a longer time.

Split
"Split" will break the particles apart to create child particles. Once it is set to "Yes", you´ll have access to
"@ # child". "Split" can create huge amounts of spray, foam and splash particles, so please mind your "Max
particles" settings.

@ # child
Here you can determine the number of children that will be generated from each particle when "Split" is set
to "Yes".

Hit force
Each particle has a certain mass that´s capable of influencing the RealWave surface. This mass generates
a force that creates little ripples and secondary waves. If you need stronger ripples, you don´t have to
change the fluid´s density (which would lead to a completely different fluid behaviour); simply raise "Hit
force" and boost this effect. Depending on size, level of detail and environmental conditions, it´s sometimes
better to deactivate "Hit force". Large "Hit force" settings in combination with high "@ Wave speed" values
can lead to unwanted high-frequency patterns.

Propagation of high-frequency patterns on a RealWave surface

Hit levels
With values larger than 0, RealFlow analyzes the neighbour of the affected vertices of the RealWave
surface and disturbs these points. This mode can be seen as a "radius of action", and it's a recursive
operation. With a value of 2, for example, the neighbours of the already considered vertices will be
disturbed as well. This means that high values will A) slow down the simulation and B) affect very large
parts of the wave surface leading to an unnatural look. Therefore "Hit levels" should not be greater than 5.

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Hit levels = 0 | Hit levels = 5

@ Max height
Since particles can create ripples and secondary waves, it´s sometimes necessary to restrict the height of
these waves to avoid unrealistic behaviour. Imagine an ocean surface where tiny drops produce huge
waves. That´s an example where relations are shifted and the effect is completely overdone.

@ Wave speed
The travelling speed of the secondary ripples can be restricted with this parameter. High velocities can also
lead to unwanted spikes and high-frequency effects which spoil the entire wave.

@ Wave damping
To prevent the particle-induced waves from endless propagation, we recommend you to limit their life-span.
With "@ Wave damping" you can make them disappear smoothly and create a much more realistic
behaviour.

@ Depth effect
An object can disturb the surface and create waves not only when it crosses the surface, but also below it.
As in real life, a submarine can create waves when travelling below the surface at a shallow depth. This
parameter sets the depth limit at which any object will affect the surface.

Texture strength
If you can hardly see the particle marks on a foam texture, we advise you to either raise this value and/or
the emitter´s "Resolution" parameter. To achieve a less distinctive effect, values smaller than 1 should be
considered.

3. The RW_Object_Splash Panel

Wave behaviour is described with the RW Particle Interaction panel, and the splashes are adjusted here.
Typical settings concern involved objects and splash strength. Object splashes depend on many
parameters and it sometimes requires a little patience to achieve optimal results.

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Objects
As usual you can choose one or even more objects from a node picker to attach them to the splash emitter.
If you need control over the individual splashes then it´s recommended to use one emitter per object.

Waterline mult
This setting is used to increase the number of created particles. It´s closely related to he emitter´s
"Resolution" parameter and ranges from 0 to 1. 0 disables the waterline emission, while 1 is used to
maximize it.

@ Width
Experienced RealFlow users will certainly know that it used to be hard to create a sufficient amount of
liquid-type particles around an object hitting a RealWave surface. Liquid-type particles can only be created
at specific positions to keep the fluid stable. For better control, this parameter has been introduced in
RealFlow 5. "@ Width" controls the area around the object from where the particles will be emitted. It works
in world units – a value of 1.0 means that particles will be created in an area of 1 metre around the
object.

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@ Width = 0.1 | @ Width = 0.5 | @ Width = 1.0

@ H/V strength
These values can be seen as multipliers to enhance the splash. You can define values for the horizontal
and the vertical emission separately. The range of these parameters is not limited and you can enter any
value, but exaggerated settings should be avoided. Higher values will produce faster velocities in horizontal
or vertical directions. A value of 0.0 for "@ H strength" may produce a perfect vertical emission, depending
on the "@ V strength" value – and it´s vice versa with 0.0 for "@ V strength".

@ Side emission
This option modifies the angle and strength of the emitting particles along the normal direction. Higher
values are required to create wide-angle particle emissions around the object.

@ Normal speed
With this parameter you can modify the speed of the particles when they are launched from the waterline.

Underwater mult
This setting works like "Waterline mult", but the particles are emitted from polygons below the RealWave
surface. This is great for creating particle trails from emerging objects or vehicles that move underwater,
e.g. submarines. The range is between 0 and 1, where 0 disables the creation of particles.

@ Depth threshold
When you activate "Underwater mult" this setting becomes accessible. Particles are only created between
the RealWave mesh and the specified "Depth threshold" value. "@ Depth threshold" must always be
positive.

Speed mult
Another multiplier to influence the emitted particles. Each particle has a certain velocity at the time of
creation. This speed will be multiplied with the entered valued to create more impressive, faster, and higher
splashes. Very high values might lead to exploding particles and unnatural results, but with moderate
changes it´s possible to fine-tune a splash.

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Parent Obj Speed
The object that´s used to create the splash also has a certain velocity at the time of impact. A value of 0.0
won´t add any velocity to the particles. A value of 1.0 will add the full velocity of the object.

Speed threshold
Particles will only be created when the speed of the object at that point is above the threshold. This option
is useful to avoid particle creation at low velocities.

Speed variation
This is a random value that affects the velocity direction of all the particles being emitted.

Drying speed
The perturbing points of the attached object contain a wet/dry value that is updated when the object
interacts with the water surface. When the point is below the water surface, it´s considered "wet" and
particle emission is allowed. "Drying speed" controls the transition speed from wet to dry when the object
has come above the water surface. This is useful for creating the typical splashes of objects emerging from
a water surface which continue to launch particles for a while. This is often observed with large objects, for
example ships.

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