For Operation: Deli Platter we had to figure out a variety of ways to achieve realistic oceans.
There are 3 main use-cases in the film for which a different setup is required.
This tutorial covers the first use-case. For this we will simply create a cube that we can give a volumetric water material.
Then we will use a Vector Displacement Map to generate the waves.
The next use-case is when you need the ocean to extend until the horizon.
In our case we only had a single tile of Vector Displacement for the ocean waves.
The best solution we found was to apply the texture map to a variety of disks.
Each of these disks is then offset with rotation. That way you can create the illusion of a seamless ocean from the horizon.
The final use-case is one we haven't tackled yet ourselves.
But creating an interactive ocean that collides with your 3D-objects is achievable within the Chaos Ecosystem.
The tool is called Chaos Phoenix
And similar to a tool like Houdini you can create great looking particle simulations.
Good luck with your 3d-ocean renders!
Would love to see what you make :)
