The environments of How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World are immersed in waterfalls, from lush Nordic islands to mysterious, submerged kingdoms of lakes and crystals. Because of the variety and complexity of these sets (about 4000 waterfalls had to be created), a traditional approach would have consumed too many artistic and rendering resources. We decided to develop a collection of tools named InstaFalls with a few goals in mind: streamlining the creative process by minimizing the time spent on simulations, iterating faster thanks to real-time feedback, and managing the large quantity of generated data. Using this system, artists were able to create all the water elements of an environment set, from misty calderas to foamy, aerated ponds.

Research Paper for InstaFalls: How To Train Your Waterfalls