Communications of the ACM
CLA Mathematicians Bring Ocean to Life For Disney's 'moana'
University of California, Los Angeles researchers applied knowledge of math, physics, and computer science to help animate the Disney film "Moana."
Credit: Walt Disney Animation Studios
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) researchers applied their knowledge of math, physics, and computer science to help animate "Moana," a three-dimensional (3D) computer-animated Disney film in which the ocean is a character.
To address the challenge of animating flowing water realistically, UCLA mathematicians leveraged APIC, a state-of-the-art simulation method for fluid in graphics.
Alexey Stomakhin, a former ULCA doctoral student, led the development of the code used to simulate the movement of the ocean in the film. "The increased demand for realism and complexity in animated movies makes it preferable to get assistance from computers," Stomakhin says. "This means we have to simulate the movement of the ocean surface and how the water splashes, for example, to make it look believable."
The animation's algorithms closely approximate partial differential equations to preserve angular momentum and energy.
Stomakhin also was involved in creating waves that break at a certain time and place, and choreographing the movement of water around boats.
In addition to providing visual effects for movies, the work done by the UCLA team could be used for plasma simulations, 3D printing, and surgical simulations.
From UCLA Newsroom
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