Realistic and Fast Cloud Rendering

Niniane Wang

This web page is devoted to the cloud rendering system which ships with Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004: A Century of Flight.

Click here for more images.

Download a 5-minute video describing the cloud rendering system.

If you have comments or feedback, please e-mail me.

I presented this work at SIGGRAPH 2003. Here is a link to the sketch description. Here is the abstract which appeared in the SIGGRAPH 2003 Conference Proceedings.
I gave a talk at GDC in March 2004. Here is a link to the session description.
My full-length paper has been accepted for publication in journal of graphics tools later this year. Here is the abstract and the full paper.
I wrote an article for Game Developer Magazine which appeared in the Jan 2004 issue.

I would like to acknowledge John Smith (e-mail), and Adrian Woods (e-mail), two incredibly, unbelievably talented artists without whom this work would not have been possible. Also thank you to the Microsoft Flight Simulator development team.

FAQ

Q: Can I get the 3DS Max cloud script?

A: The SDK for Flight Simulator clouds can be found here. It contains the gmax script, a gmax sample cloud file, the texture and an exporter tool.

NOTE: All of these materials are intended to be used within Microsoft Flight Simulator. If you wish to use any of it for anything besides Microsoft Flight Simulator and especially in any commercial application, you MUST check with the Microsoft legal department first.

Q: Can you help me get a job at Microsoft?

A: Seeing as how I myself have left Microsoft, that's unlikely. On the other hand, Google is always looking for kick-ass software engineers... If you are one, e-mail me.

Q: I thought you were a man?!

A: Nope.

My personal home page.

This page last updated April 10, 2004.