The fluid animation procedure consists of physical simulation and visual rendering. In the physical simulation of fluids, the most frequently used practices are the numerical simulation of fluid particles using particle dynamics equations and the cont...
The fluid animation procedure consists of physical simulation and visual rendering. In the physical simulation of fluids, the most frequently used practices are the numerical simulation of fluid particles using particle dynamics equations and the continuum analysis of flow via Navier-Stokes equation. Particle dynamics method is fast in calculation, but the resulting fluid motion is conditionally unrealistic. The method using Navier-Stokes equation, on the contrary, yields lifelike fluid motion when properly conditioned, yet the complexity of calculation restrains this method from being used in real-time applications. Global illumination is generally successful in producing premium-quality rendered images, but is also excessively slow for real-time applications. In this paper, we propose a rapid fluid animation method incorporating enhanced particle dynamics simulation method and pre-integrated volume rendering technique. The particle dynamics simulation of fluid flow was conducted in real-time using Lennard-Jones model, and the computation efficiency was enhanced such that a small number of particles can represent a significant volume. For real-time rendering, pre-integrated volume rendering method was used so that fewer slices than ever can construct seamless inter-laminar shades. The proposed method could successfully simulate and render the fluid motion in real time at an acceptable speed and visual quality.