In article <3dbbc274@news.povray.org>,
 "Andrew Coppin" <orp### [at] btinternetcom> wrote:

> Simple question: is it possible to simulate the motion of a liquid (e.g.,
> water), or is the math just too hellishly difficult without the help of a
> supercomputer?

It is not hard to do a very simplified simulation. You could use a 
particle system with completely independant particles, and have 
reasonable processing requirements. It won't be very realistic though.
You could do a more complex particle simulation with interacting 
particles, I've seen simulations of this type that were pretty 
convincing, but it is a lot slower. There are other types of simulation 
that each have their own strengths.
To do a really realistic simulation of water would require a very 
complex simulation and huge amounts of processing power, but you can 
usually get a convincing effect with much less. It depends on what you 
want...drops of water beading on a surface, paint pouring through a 
funnel, waves smashing on rocks.

-- 
Christopher James Huff <cja### [at] earthlinknet>
http://home.earthlink.net/~cjameshuff/
POV-Ray TAG: chr### [at] tagpovrayorg
http://tag.povray.org/

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