Create a Realistic Water Simulation

Up until now blender's fluid simulator has kind of been a waste of time. Sure the fluid looked okay in the viewport, but when it came to rendering the internal renderer did a horrible job. The complex properties of water meant that it simply couldn't create realistic water simulation results. However, thanks to the new physically accurate rending engine Cycles, we can have fluid that actually looks half decent. Enter into a new era of realistic water and glass.

Finished Result

Pour yourself a glass of Cycles

The image is based off this concept from iStockPhoto.

Further Inspiration

Not sure where to take this tutorial? Check out the links below for more fluid inspiration:

• Lagoa Multiphysics Engine - The most realistic simulator to date
• Incredible water art by Jean Bérard - Beautiful stills of water used in advertising
• Blender's 'Fluid Control' - Great demonstration of an underused blender feature
• Modo Splash Kit - Some great examples of CGI fluid eye candy

Create something cool with this tutorial? Post it below! I'm keen to see your results :)