Floating Objects

The next stage was to include floating objects such as debris, in the scene. This needed to be done to give the scene some depth as just watching the waves would be incredibly dull. Floating objects are also handled within the ocean system with a variety of locators.

At first I used the basic locator, the "Surface Locator" which used a simple expression to keep an object above the water line, this however is not enough as there is no movement to the object, other than in the y axis. The object also needed to realistically roll with the waves and that meant that the use of a more complex locator.

I started testing the dynamic locator, to see what kind of functionality it contained. The dynamic locators used a slightly more detailed expression and instead of following the height of the waves, this locator allowed objects this functionality but with an add bobbing motion.

The dynamic locator has a lot of extra attributes which allowed me to test out the buoyancy effect. The buoyancy of the object, is determined by it's height and buoyancy variables. This result was much better than the simple locator but could still be improved.

The best way to have floating object within the simulation is to use the boat locator, which allows object's to pitch and roll with the waves, with this the debris in the scene became highly realistic. One problem they face was the speed of which they moved, I solved this problem by increasing the air damping on the locator object, this in effect made the area above the waves react with more friction slowing the bobbing motion to a more manageable rate.