In this quick video tip for Blender 2.5 we take a look at how to use the wave modifier for creating some quick and easy effects. This tutorial covers all the main settings of the Wave modifier, including changing the emit position, adjusting intensity and even using a texture to fade out the waves.

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Discussion

44 Responses to “Tip: Using the Wave Modifier”
  1. Tom Acunzo
    Posts: 1

    Hello Jonathon

    Very interesting. I wonder if you had added an armature to the sphere parented to the plane, with a transform constrain to allow vertical only motion. Would the ball have a realistic bobbing up and down effect?

    Tom

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    1
    Feb 1, 2011 at 5:36 pm
    • Posts: 234

      No need for all that Tom! Simply give the ball it’s own Wave modifier, canceling the X and Y motion. Then match it to the settings of your ‘water’. Voila!

      #
      1.1
      Feb 2, 2011 at 6:40 am
  2. john Willey
    Posts: 4

    Hello Jonathon

    great tutorial.
    Have you try add some fluid splash effect when the waves hit the wall?
    I am trying to figure it out how to add some fluid splash effect.
    See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJMBUlF1hzM

    what do you think?

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    2
    Feb 1, 2011 at 6:47 pm
  3. John Willey
    Posts: 4

    Hi Jonathon

    Great tutorial. Have you tried out some fluid splash effect when the waves hit the ball?
    I am trying to figure out how to add some fluid splash effect when the waves hit the wall. But can’t . How ??
    see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJMBUlF1hzM
    What do you think?

    John

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    3
    Feb 1, 2011 at 8:14 pm
    • Posts: 3

      You need to add a collider to the wall by going under Physics: Collision. I’m not sure if it will work; I think the effect in the video used the fluid simulator. Try using the fluid sim to drop a ball into the water with the wall near the edge.

      Hope this helps. :)

      #
      3.1
      Feb 5, 2011 at 7:33 pm
      • john
        Posts: 4

        Hi matt ,

        Thanks for help
        I did tried collision with the shark.
        I tried both collision with wave and shark.

        Soft body and cloth interaction in Collision?
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_8qzRVrfkI

        #
        3.1.1
        Feb 14, 2011 at 1:24 pm
      • Posts: 3

        Ah, I think I have it. First, the waves are sort of not actually hitting the wall, but are just passing through it. (The render is not showing the other side of the wall.) You can add a collider to the wall to be sure, but it won’t help much.

        Next, the shark has no collider, as it just passes through the waves with ease. I think the only thing that actually might need the collider is the planks under the pier. (For realism.)

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        3.1.2
        Feb 15, 2011 at 7:22 pm
  4. Posts: 175

    Wow! Very nice! Thank you for continuing to document and share your knowledge of these modifiers! It’s a big help!

    Cheers,

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    4
    Feb 1, 2011 at 9:10 pm
  5. Posts: 26

    Pure genious!

    A long time ago i tried to achieve similar results, but i never thought to use a modifier.

    Thx.

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    5
    Feb 2, 2011 at 1:26 am
  6. Jonathan Torres
    Posts: 12

    I find it Ironic that you decided to use the wave modifier. I started playing with it on the exact same day as this was released without even knowing that it was lol :) Thank you for the tuts Jonathan :D

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    6
    Feb 2, 2011 at 3:23 am
  7. mariusz
    Posts: 1

    This how I used Wave Modifier
    http://vimeo.com/18870761

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    7
    Feb 2, 2011 at 4:01 am
  8. Posts: 115

    thanks so much, very interesting, as per usual.

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    8
    Feb 2, 2011 at 4:41 am
  9. Posts: 234

    Cut-throat, Jonathan!lol But I think this question is for Wes. When I leave a comment is the screen supposed to freeze up for about five minutes and then take me to a blank screen permanently? Then I can’t see if my comment is actually posted for some hours. That may account for some of the recent double posts, if everyone is experiencing this. I noticed no one has mentioned it so I thought I would let you guys know.

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    9
    Feb 2, 2011 at 7:04 am
  10. Joshua Lowery
    Posts: 14

    Wow, thanks for the tut Jonathan.

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    10
    Feb 2, 2011 at 7:51 am
  11. That was nice tutorial. I tested it and i had few ideas how to use it. I did also done that same scene as you had in the preview, but i have a little problem with it as you can see in the picture:

    http://dl.dropbox.com/u/5904620/styroksi.jpg

    I mean why does not the water reflect the normalmapping of that thing?

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    11
    Feb 2, 2011 at 9:46 am
  12. Posts: 8

    To me, this set of modifier tutorials, with your explanations of what all the modifier buttons and boxes do, satisfies a real need, and you are doing a fabulous job with it. And now to work out how to make a realistic boat wake …. Happy days!

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    12
    Feb 2, 2011 at 12:02 pm
  13. Posts: 228

    Indeed Tutorial is awesome ,and I do like the word ” powerful ” being used for the blender software . Yes , thank you Jonathan .

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    13
    Feb 2, 2011 at 12:49 pm
  14. Posts: 228

    Indeed Tutorial is awesome ,and I do like the word ” powerful ” being used for the blender software . Yes , thank you Jonathan .

    #
    14
    Feb 2, 2011 at 12:49 pm
  15. Posts: 228

    Indeed Tutorial is awesome ,and I do like the word ” powerful ” being used for the blender software . Yes , thank you Jonathan .

    #
    15
    Feb 2, 2011 at 12:49 pm
  16. Posts: 228

    Indeed Tutorial is awesome ,and I do like the word ” powerful ” being used for the blender software . Yes , thank you Jonathan .

    #
    16
    Feb 2, 2011 at 12:49 pm
  17. Posts: 228

    Indeed Tutorial is awesome ,and I do like the word ” powerful ” being used for the blender software . Yes , thank you Jonathan .

    #
    17
    Feb 2, 2011 at 12:49 pm
  18. Posts: 228

    Indeed Tutorial is awesome ,and I do like the word ” powerful ” being used for the blender software . Yes , thank you Jonathan .

    #
    18
    Feb 2, 2011 at 12:49 pm
  19. Posts: 228

    Indeed Tutorial is awesome ,and I do like the word ” powerful ” being used for the blender software . Yes , thank you Jonathan .

    #
    19
    Feb 2, 2011 at 12:49 pm
  20. Posts: 228

    Indeed Tutorial is awesome ,and I do like the word ” powerful ” being used for the blender software . Yes , thank you Jonathan .

    #
    20
    Feb 2, 2011 at 12:49 pm
  21. Posts: 228

    Indeed Tutorial is awesome ,and I do like the word ” powerful ” being used for the blender software . Yes , thank you Jonathan .

    #
    21
    Feb 2, 2011 at 12:49 pm
  22. Posts: 228

    Indeed Tutorial is awesome ,and I do like the word ” powerful ” being used for the blender software . Yes , thank you Jonathan .

    #
    22
    Feb 2, 2011 at 12:49 pm
  23. Posts: 169

    Another great tutorial, THANKS!

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    23
    Feb 2, 2011 at 12:55 pm
  24. Posts: 25

    ah i have always wondered how the wave modifier worked :) really nice demonstration I am sure lots of people will find it useful and hopefully make it easier to render watery scenes :D

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    24
    Feb 2, 2011 at 1:29 pm
  25. mfoxdogg
    Posts: 2

    Nice demo, however, what you did with the texture is not what i intended at all when i developed it, try using a clouds texture or somthing, what you did with the texture is what falloff is supposed to do but look like my darling wave mod has been changed since i coded that :( , also what you didn’t do is animate the center of the wave, which gives a really cool effect.

    anyway nice work

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    25
    Feb 2, 2011 at 4:06 pm
  26. Posts: 11

    Fantastic. Agree totally with Doug B. More More More. Please Please Please. :-)

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    26
    Feb 2, 2011 at 4:25 pm
  27. Posts: 11

    Fantastic. Yotally agree with Doug B above. More More More Please Please Please.

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    27
    Feb 2, 2011 at 4:29 pm
  28. JoKaYo
    Posts: 59

    hey thanks for the tip, but there is a little thing, in a previous tutorial its been a while, you had a wordfile which you put the IOR for such things as glass or water … could you uplod it for us that if you don’t mind

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    28
    Feb 6, 2011 at 10:35 am
  29. lucado
    Posts: 2

    Thank you Jonathan for the tut. Very Helpfull
    I found this tutorial Gone with the waves by CoyHot I think is a good way to make an object Float
    http://www.foro3d.com/f227/gone-with-the-waves-77122.html?pagenumber=
    sorry for my english.

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    29
    Feb 6, 2011 at 6:35 pm
  30. AE
    Posts: 55

    I just had a friend who I’d referred to Blender come up to me and say ” Hey, you have to check out Blendercookie!” And I was like ” Yeah, I’ve followed that site for a year now, it’s definitely the best Blender tutorial website.”

    Anyway. I want to use two wave modifiers in order to create a skipping stones effect. On a liquid. Is it possible? Please reply mfoxdogg. Thanks for bringing this to my attention, Jonathan.

    From the week’s inactivity, I assume you’re working on the 10 hour vehicle training series? Can’t wait to get that, think I’ll also do citizen for a month and get previous exclusives, too. :)

    -ae

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    30
    Feb 7, 2011 at 9:08 pm
  31. Gary
    Posts: 109

    Thanks! This was pretty neat. I bet if you used a few different planes with their own modifiers side by side, you could make them big enough to fit around a small ship…

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    31
    Feb 8, 2011 at 6:53 am
  32. haqzaf
    Posts: 54

    Hi,Jonathan Williamson

    Thanks for quick tip

    I, model this object exclusively for wave modifier quick tip.

    Unable to create ripples eminating from the center of the object.

    Modifier work for creating waves in X,Y direction.

    Still, I capture the render image for viewing.

    link

    http://browse.deviantart.com/?q=gallery%3Ahaqzaf%2F9410305#/d396z31

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    32
    Feb 9, 2011 at 8:34 pm
    • Posts: 2972

      Hi there,

      I’m not sure if this is what you’re trying to do, but the waves will not take on the shape of the object they use as the central emission point. They will always, by default emit in a circular pattern. However, you could use a lattice modifier in addition to the wave modifier to get a better shape to the waves. Is that what you’re trying to do?

      -Jonathan

      #
      32.1
      Feb 9, 2011 at 9:57 pm
      • haqzaf
        Posts: 54

        Hi,Jonathan,

        Following your tutorial,when you apply wave modifier,slight bump appear in the center of plane in “Z direction.Applying the ALT-A to activate animation,your bump in the center of plane eminate ripple wave in all direction outward.In my case,following same steps,my plane just create single jump up and down and stops.I watched few more tutorials and they have the same effect as mine and they just explained creating waves either in X direction and Y direction.I’m not looking something different from your tip.I;m unable to create these ripple waves from center to outward.

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        32.1.1
        Feb 9, 2011 at 11:36 pm
  33. Maciek Smuga
    Posts: 1

    Hi Jonathan,

    Thanks for the tutorial! I’m a blender newbie, but after stumbling across your tutorials this last month, I’ve been able to scramble up the first (worst?) part of the learning curve.

    cheers,
    maciek

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    33
    Feb 10, 2011 at 11:32 pm
  34. god
    Posts: 4

    you have a monitor win a res of 1920×1080
    you have a desktop computer with a single monitor

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    34
    Feb 13, 2011 at 7:26 pm
  35. Matt
    Posts: 1

    Hi Jonathan,

    Awesome tutorial as always! I have been having a pretty significant issue however. I am currently using 2.56, each time I finish a scene and attempt to render and save to a file that isnt the default tmp, nothing happens. I select a path in the render tab that I believe should work but nothing ever appears in the folder I select. Is there something Im missing or not doing properly?!?

    Thanks,

    Matt

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    35
    Feb 24, 2011 at 4:00 pm
  36. Posts: 29

    Hey, I’m using 2.6 and I’m attempting to apply a wave as a shape… Its not working,the plane keeps going flat again. HELP!

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    36
    Jan 4, 2012 at 7:54 pm
  37. Samuel Cape
    Posts: 1

    Very cool! I did figure out that the ‘Falloff’ parameter can be used instead of the texture for the damping out of the waves as you get farther from the center. I do like the control afforded by the texture method though.

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    37
    Jan 8, 2013 at 8:13 am
  38. Cleven Jeffery
    Posts: 1

    I am a blender newbie and I was looking at your wave modifier presentation in the Blender Cookie tutorial. If you crank up the amount of the Falloff only and animate it, then I think you might get the result of it. Thanks! Cleven.

    P.S. I don’t know whether someone sent you the same answer to your question about the Falloff in the wave modifier or not. Cleven.

    #
    38
    Feb 23, 2013 at 3:04 pm

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