Sunday, June 9, 2019

Clebsch Maps

Clebsch Maps are a way of visualizing the pattern of dynamic movement within fluids, such as air or water.



They're particularly useful for creating images of what happens in the air around flapping wings.

Here is a hummingbird in flight with a Clebsch Map showing the air velocities around it.


Each flapping wing is surrounded by tube-like vortices of quickly spinning air. Here they're rendered to look like glistening plastic wrap or glass tubing.



This YouTube video shows Clebsch Maps in various applications. This research will have practical applications for understanding the flight of insects and drones, as well as for creating new CGI techniques in the visual effects industry.
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Study by Ren. Y Dong, H. Deng, et al.

3 comments:

  1. What a raiment of air, with strange silken folds appearing..

    "The visible has its roots in the unseen".

    ReplyDelete
  2. James-
    This reminds me very much of Leonardo’s sketches of water flowing, and wind blowing! -RQ

    Link to an article:
    International Journal of Art and Art History December 2018,
    Water or Wind? Leonardo da Vinci's drawings Windsor 12377–12386 reinterpreted
    Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Welsch1

    http://ijaahnet.com/journals/ijaah/Vol_6_No_2_December_2018/6.pdf


    and a quick google search:

    https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=leonardo+da+vinci+water+drawings&chips=q:leonardo+da+vinci+water+drawings,online_chips:flood&usg=AI4_-kSNLwsBXGC3cvN8cuKUZ-uEvfmhVw&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiUj9aK69ziAhUETawKHb5AD5sQ4lYILCgB&biw=1082&bih=523&dpr=2.2#imgrc=_

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cool find James. I worked on a Disney feature pitch back in 2007 where we were experimenting in previsualization and vfx to create something very similar to this. I'll post you a link.

    ReplyDelete

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