In the Terrain Tools description page, Eric mentions that it's possible to create boat wakes.  I've experimented with the Intersect tool, but I've only managed to get a good foam effect encircling the edges of the object that intersects the water plane.  Has anybody had any success in creating a V-shaped falloff extending and expanding behind the object?

Hi Evinrude, That "V" effect is called Kelvin Propagation. (Sorry, my nerd/science side kicking in. The waves in water propagate at 19.5 degrees regardless of the object speed.) Terrain tools considers proximity but not fluid dynamics. So, if you find a way, please let me know. :D The way I and others have done it is with some digital sleight-of-hand. The typical trick is to animate that effect with any of a bunch of tools out there and then rotoscope the animation onto a rectangular plane surrounding the boat that is just slightly above the water in your scene. Mark

Evinrude,

For Terrain Tools, you can do this by building a VM object in the shape of your wake. Make it a child of the boat, and then make it invisible. Use the Terrain Tools Intersect shader to track the intersection betweent the water plane and your invisible VM object. It's not something I'd use for a close still, but doesn't look too bad for a distance shot.

Regards,

Eric Winemiller
Digital Carvers Guild
Carrara and LightWave plug-ins

I hadn't thought of that one Eric. Nice. I'll have to play with it.

Kelvin propagation...19.5? Very cool, and that's a new one to me! I'll have to remember that one because it appeals to my "nerdish" side. Thanks for the ideas on how to simulate a ship's wake. I love modeling boats and ships and have been trying to figure out how to use Terrain Tools to get that effect. Boy, the cool things you learn in this Forum, and not just 3D stuff either!