Cineversity

Hi.  I need to create this ‘cutaway’ view of a water line (the area where the water meets the air)
The camera will be following dolphins swimming and jumping.
It’s a fairly short 5 sec spot. This is my first try at animating water so I’m out of my comfort zone already!

Not sure if this is best done in C4D or not, but I’m shooting for the most realistic look I can get within reason.
In addition to creating the water itself I also have to have the water splashes as my dolphins jump in and out as the camera follows them swimming along.
(I’ve attached a 2D After Effects version I did previously using stills that I just manipulated)
Perhaps if I could get help pointing me in the right direction, I would be most appreciative!

Thanks,
Brian

Hi Brian,

Water seemed to me always as one of the more difficult things to visualize, besides fire and smoke—If the most realistic look is targeted.

I guess the standard answer would be, get comfortable with RealFlow. Certainly one of the tools many people rely on.

On the other side, given your images and taking it as “look and feel” template, perhaps you animate the dolphins and find stock-footage to compose the things you like. I know it is just a sketch that you provided to improve the communication here, but what I notice is, that the enclosed bubbles on the water line make the dolphins very tiny. If you listen to all the VFX supervisors for feature films who have talked about miniatures and water, you might filter out that it is pretty difficult to get. High frame rates is one part to make it look bigger, but the water itself doesn’t scale well. So, no suggestion to take a high frame rate camera and a aquarium. from my side.

If the budget doesn’t allow for stock-footage nor for RealFlow, perhaps one of the longest supported plug-ins for water (AFAIK) is “Add The Sea”. It might has all the features your need.

http://add-the-sea.de/eng/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=4&Itemid=26

But also the X-Particles, for the bubbles when the dolphin dives into the water (perhaps only the back-fin).

If you wouldn’t have used the term “most realistic” I would try to find something that could simulate close to just that, but water needs a lot of attention, as we all are so used to it. Particle packages comes to mind, but before they look “most realistic” to an trained eye, it takes a while, and with that might be an overkill as well.

Check out the plug in, it seems the best mix of affordability and features—given your project and target.

My best wishes for the project

Sassi

Thanks so much Sassi, you’re always a great help! I check into all your suggestions. Yeah I imagine water must be a huge skill to master.

You’re welcome, Brian.

I have worked “with” water in all kind of media, even participated in an Oil-Painting challenge back in my Berlin times, while running my paint studio. Water is very close to us, and we know it too well to get fooled easily ;o) On the end we see only the influence on water, as water by itself is practically invisible by itself. (We see refraction or light, air-bubbles, etc, but pure water and nothing else—impossible. ;o) In a nutshell, a wonderful challenge and a reason why most animation movies pack somewhere a water scene into it, sometimes without really any need for it. I say that only to motivate you to allow yourself some research time, and be not impatient with yourself. master it and it will feed many areas of your work.

All the best for the project.

Sassi