Surface Settings

Geometry¶

Generic settings all water layers/objects have regarding on the base geometry side of things.

Apply Object Transformations¶

Offset the details of the water by the transformations of the object. Useful if lining up water objects so their waves and resoluiton match. (On by default when creating water layer is a separate object)

Water Layer Only¶

Settings of when the water is on an object and multiple water layers can be added

Use Waves (Layer List)¶

Enable wave displacement on the geometry of this layer.

Located in the list item row of water layers next to the layer visiblity eye toggle

Convert Active Layer to Object¶

Take the highlighted active water layer in the layer list and convert it into a separate water layer

Located in the Water Layer Menu next to the layer list

Water Object Only¶

Settings of when the water is its own separate water object.

Use External Object¶

Use geometry external to the water when calculating heights and cut-offs. (On by default)

Object¶

The geometry external to the water to use.

Convert Water Object to Layer¶

Convert the water object into a layer on the external Object that the water object is referencing.

Located in the Water Layer Menu next to the Object picker

Surface¶

Generic settings all water layers/objects have regarding the surface details.

Material¶

The material to use for the water. If using the default TrueTERRAIN material the UI will be special to it. Otherwise if using a custom water material the UI will create a panel for each node group it finds with the node group's name as the panel's header. Then inisde the drop down panel it'll display the node group's sockets as displayed in the Properties panel of the Node tab in the Node Editor window.

Waves¶

When non-TrueTERRAIN Material is in use the only wave settings visible are the Geometry Waves

Decay¶

For many settings in the waves there are settings concerning the "decay" of that setting. This decay (with exception of crest foam) regards the layering of waves upon eachother. To do waves right you must calculate smaller and smaller waves and add them all together at varying stengths. The "decay" settings are the multiplier of that setting for each subsequent wave iteration. So for a wavelength setting of 5m and a decay rate of 0.9 (defaults) the first wave iteration with generate waves roughly 5m apart. The 2nd iteration will generate waves 5m×0.9 apart or 4.5m apart. The 2nd will be 5m*0.9*0.9 or 4.05m apart and so on. The smaller the number the faster each wave will become smaller.

Geometry Waves¶

Use Waves¶

Enable geometry displacement for waves (same as in the layer list)

Choppiness¶

How sharp the crest of the waves are.

Wavelength¶

The distance from one wave to another.

Wavelength Decay Rate¶

The rate at which the distance between each wave grows or shrinks.

Amplitude¶

The height of the waves. Decay rate is locked to wavelength's.

Speed¶

How fast the waves are moving.

Speed Decay Rate¶

How quick subsequent waves are in comparison the first.

Angle¶

The main direction of wave movement.

Max Distribution Angle¶

How far apart subsequent waves can be angled from the base angle. The closer to 0° the more in line the waves are. As you near 90° you may see a grid appearing.

Distribution Seed¶

Randomize the subsequent wave direction angle.

Capillary Waves¶

Not shown if non-TrueTERRAIN material is in use

Count¶

Number of small, ripple waves to show when rendering.

Speed¶

How fast these shader based waves move.

Rotation¶

The direction at which the waves move.

Warble Speed¶

The speed of the waves distortion.

Bump Strength¶

Increase the height of the waves.

Foam¶

Crest¶

Enable¶

Generate crest foam on the geometry.

Amount¶

The amount of crest foam to display when rendering. Maxed out by the Crest Spread setting

Spread¶

The amount of crest foam to generate on the geometry.

Spread Decay Rate¶

How long to fade out crest foam.

Requires waves to be set to Animation instead of Static

Shore Foam¶

Distance from Shore¶

Vary the how far out the foam extends from the terrain. Calculates the distance not from the "shore" not so much from where the water meets the terrain but from where the height of water is at 0.

Border Distort¶

Vary the distortion level of the foam line.

Soften¶

Reduce the falloff of the shore foam.

Around Objects Foam¶

Enable¶

Generate foam around the objects in the collection (In Global Settings if layer based)

Distance¶

The max distance foam can be around the objects.

Distortion¶

How much to distort the foam line

Foam Source¶

Geometry: calculate shore and around objects foam in geometry nodes.
Shader: calculate shore and around objects foam in the shader nodes using ambient occlusion.

Total Layers¶

Number of foam layers to stack together

Speed¶

How fast the foam moves.

Scale¶

The sizing of the foam textures.

Rotation¶

Direction the foam travels.

Foam Shader Settings¶

Color¶

The color overlay of the foam.

Bump Height¶

Increase the perceived depth of the foam.

Anti-Tile¶

Blur Seams¶

Blur the borders of each tile.

Scale Random¶

Vary the scale of the foam texture for each tile.

Rotation Random¶

Vary the rotation of the foam texture in each tile.

Shader¶

Color¶

Color of the water.

Roughness¶

How much shine the water has.

IOR¶

Index of refraction of the water. 1.33 is the default for water.

Refraction¶

HSV¶

Change the color of the dispersion and caustics.

Dispersion Amount¶

The amount to split up the colors of the light passing through the water.

Dispersion Blur¶

Vary the smoothness of the borders of the dispersed colors

Caustics Intensity¶

Vary the brightness of the caustics.

Going too high will brighten the water volume as a whole

Caustics Blur¶

Vary the smoothness (out of focus effect) of the caustics.

Caustics Shadow Intensity¶

Since caustics are the focusing of light in certain areas due to the movement of the waves there are by inverse shadowed areas. This setting increase the darkness of those shadows.

This value is relative to the caustic intensity. Going too high can cause unwanted results.

Volume¶

Enable¶

Calculate the water as a volume

Absorption Amount¶

Higher values give the water a color (lesser values makes it more pure looking). Too high of a value will make the water very dark.

Absorption Color¶

The target color the water will turn as absorption increases.

Scatter Amount¶

Mimics particulates in the water like dirt. Higher values make the water cloudy or milky.

Warning

We do not recommend going over a value of 1

Scatter Color¶

The tint of the cloudiness or particulates. So for dirt you'd set the color to brown.