Add and edit BOSS solvers

The Bifröst Ocean Simulation System uses solvers to generate waves and displace geometry. You can use multiple solvers on the same geometry, and blend their effects together.

To add a solver

  1. Create a flat planar polygon mesh to define the extent of the water surface (in other words, the domain of the simulation). For best results:
    • The mesh should be aligned with the world XZ plane.
    • It should have enough subdivisions to display the level of detail that you want to preview.
    Note: The resolution of the simulation is independent of the resolution of the mesh. You can use a relatively low-resolution mesh for faster previews at a coarser level of detail, and then transfer the simulation to a high-resolution mesh when you are satisfied — see Replace the domain of a BOSS simulation.
  2. Select Boss > Boss Editor to display the Boss Ripple / Wave Generator window.
  3. With the mesh selected, add a solver:
    Create Wave Solver
    Use this option to start with the undeformed mesh and then add influences as desired.
    Create Spectral Waves
    Use this option to start with an underlying ocean simulation and then add influences as desired.

    4. The original mesh becomes hidden, and a BossOutput mesh is created using the same material by default.

  4. Add more solvers as desired. By default, they all use the same mesh as the domain.

    For example, you might use a spectral wave solver for the ocean surface, with influences such as a boat and rocks. You might then also add a wave solver with the same influences for extra control over the wake and waves that they create.

To edit solvers

To display a solver's attributes in the Attribute Editor, make sure that Auto Select Nodes is on in the Boss Ripple / Wave Generator window and then select a solver in the Wave Solver list on the left.

For a brief description of an attribute, hover the pointer over it. If a tooltip does not appear after a brief delay, make sure that Display Toolclips is on in your Help preferences.

Here are some notes on a few of the settings:
  • When blending the result of multiple solvers on the same domain, use Wave Height to control the strength of each solver, including its influences.
  • Resolution X and Resolution Z control the resolution of the simulation, as opposed to the mesh. They are also used for the size of the cache EXR files. For best results, these attributes should match the aspect ratio of the domain in the scene's world X and Z axes. Different solvers can have different resolutions on the same domain, if you don't need the same level of detail from each solver. You can change resolution at any time — for example, start with a low resolution for faster playback, and then increase it for more detail.
  • Gravity m/s2 is the main controller for scale. The default value of 9.8 assumes that a grid unit is 1 meter when Maya's Linear working unit is set to the default value of cm. You should adjust this value if your scene is modeled to a different scale.
  • If you will be using the EXR cache files for vector displacement, or if you will be using the mesh to guide a Bifröst liquid simulation, then turn on Use Horizontal Displacement and optionally adjust Wave Size to capture the horizontal motion as well.

  • For spectral wave solvers, Patch Size X (m) and Patch Size Z (m) control the size of ocean surface to simulate, assuming again that a grid unit is 1 meter when Maya's Linear working unit is set to the default value of cm.

    • This patch is squashed or stretched to fit the domain mesh, so for best results, these values should match domain. You may need to adjust Gravity m/s2 and Wave Height to compensate.

    • If the base mesh extends beyond a region of this size centered at the scene origin, the result is either repeated regions if the Periodic option is on, or undeformed regions if it is off. If the simulated patch is larger than the mesh domain, then the deformation represents only a portion of the area that is simulated and optionally cached — you can transform the input mesh within the patch to reveal other regions if desired.

      Alternatively, you can adjust Space Scale to better fit the simulated region to the mesh. Space Scale also affects the speed of the waves — you can restore the original speed of the waves by scaling the Gravity m/s2 value by 1/(Space Scale)2.

  • Capillary waves are small ripples caused by surface tension. They might not be visible unless you are using very high resolutions for the simulation and the domain mesh.
Parent topic: BOSS — Bifröst Ocean Simulation System