Floating

An object's buoyancy and the way in which it moves in water is more of an animation challenge, so as with the basic principles of animation, I believe I'll stick to a few golden rules. The object can bob up and down at a set rate and the energy of the animation could be determined by how buoyant the object.

Concerning an object's yaw, if unguided, is relatively steady however over long periods of time it will shift. To demonstrate this I plan to have unguided object's heading shift slightly back and forth between a start and end orientation, with each starting orientation changing slightly each time.

Pitch and Roll are slightly more difficult to predict, looking into has led me to the conclusion that it will depend on wind direction and speed and where the object is located on a wave (i.e. in a troth or on a crest). The main focus is that the object is slightly more animated on a crest and it is in a realistic position, not held atop the crest by a few vertices.

I should be able to track an object's height using scripting and keep it within the relative position of the wave. One problem I am having with this is with the use of particle systems and the lack of precision they present. I have been able to demonstrate keeping the object's floating at correct heights when using a fluid container because it has parameters I can easily measure, unlike the slightly unpredictable nature of nParticles.

This raises a concern of mine, how much will this be a simulation and how much be hard coded (only working within preset limits)