I'm Trying to figure out how to make a large bode of Murky water for a swamp scene I'm working on. At the moment it just looks like a layer of black Fog, So I was hoping I could get some suggestions.
The most grabbing issue is that it is black. Unless the water is carrying something like a vast quantity of silt or ash, it is never black. Murky water tends to have a fairly bright, pale colour as light is largely reflected off the near-surface rather than "lost" thanks to diffraction / diffusion and whatever else at depth.
I suggest sprinkling on some moss around the parts where you used the DepthBias...also, if possible, try putting in a mesh with a fake fog under the surface, or use fog directly.
As Amber said, Water doesn't really get black unless you're living in Springfield and are working for Mr. Burns.
No reflections. No matter what the color of the water itself, the most important visual is the reflections. I'd definitely try to get that right first.
No, ofcourse not. This is based of Hywel Thomas' true depth fog tutorial and I believe hourence's tutorial for water. It's a little heavy on the instruction side, but we're running it in a project we're working on, so far with quite acceptable results. Please note I have some parameters in there, since I'll usually instance it out to get the esthetics right, then replace them with constants (I have no real need for instanced materials in this particular project).
Please note that I'm using a cubemap for the reflection. If you want values, let me know, but as with any water material, you'll have to tweak it to look good.
I've thought about doing a panning texture for the water color in the past, but decided against this for my purposes; I got the look I wanted. Still, if you're going for dense muddiness, you could definately go that route.
Replies
As Amber said, Water doesn't really get black unless you're living in Springfield and are working for Mr. Burns.
Please note that I'm using a cubemap for the reflection. If you want values, let me know, but as with any water material, you'll have to tweak it to look good.
I've thought about doing a panning texture for the water color in the past, but decided against this for my purposes; I got the look I wanted. Still, if you're going for dense muddiness, you could definately go that route.