Choppiness

simple sine waves are inherently smooth, rounded functions with no sharp discontinuities.  Real ocean waves, on the other hand, often have sharp choppy crests.  Hydrous tools uses a nonlinear displacement technique to get these sharp choppy waves, which also gives us automatic whitecapping.

simple linear displacement

simple linear displacement is displaced straight along the normal of the surface. There is no stretching or squashing parallell to the surface.

nonlinear displaced choppy water

nonlinear displacements pinch the waves at the peaks so they get sharp, just like real world waves.  One problem that can come out of this is if the choppiness is driven too far, the surface can evert itself into a loop.

overdriven looped error

there is no simple way to be completely certain you won't get this artefact. If you are pushing your waves into very sharp peaks, run a low-resolution test to find the sharpest looking frame, and then render the most suspicious looking area up close.

ye olde linear displacement cusped choppy nonlinear displacement overdriven looped error on a 3d surface

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