"Real Time Smoke Simulation on Graphics Hardware"

Supervised by Dr AH Watt

Abstract

Real time realistic animation of gaseous phenomena is an important and challenging problem in computer graphics. The computational expense associated with accurately modelling the underlying physical processes is prohibitive to real time interactive applications and has prompted researchers to explore many different techniques.

This project differs from previous attempts in the area by seeking to dynamically simulate the effects of rapidly moving projectiles passing through the volume, leaving visible vortices in their wake. The new wave of graphics hardware with powerful programmable GPUs paves the way for many such effects in computer games and virtual environments.

This paper provides a brief analysis of the different techniques available, before presenting a GPU implementation of a state-preserving particle system which successfully fulfils the main project requirements. The finished system produces visually plausible representations of large scale smoke effects capable of interacting with static and dynamic objects in the environment, and is fast enough to run comfortably in a game environment on high-end consumer graphics cards.