As light moves through murky water it is scattered by a myriad of tiny particles, causing the water to slightly glow. Because the light loses intensity as it is scattered, deeper water glows less than shallow water.
This shader simulates this scattering effect, giving a realistic coloration to underwater scenes.
When the camera is under water, use Submerge as the camera volume shader. When the camera is above water, use Submerge as the water surface object's volume shader.
| Name |
The name of the shader node displayed in the render tree. Enter any name you like, or leave the default. |
| Water Color |
The color of the water. |
| Vertical Gradation |
Controls how quickly the water becomes dark. Lower values cause the water to be nearly uniform in color, while higher values cause an abrupt change in water color, from the lighter areas towards the surface to the darker regions below. |
| Density |
Controls how murky the water is; that is, how quickly objects disappear as they become more distant. (Density is identical to the Density parameter of the Mist shader used for fog thickness.) If banding occurs when using Submerge, turn on the Dither option in the mental ray Render Options to correct it (see Sample Filtering for information). |
| Base Plane Normal/Base Plane Distance |
The shader applies the submerge effect only on a vertical axis. These two parameters control the vertical axis direction (Base Plane Normal) and distance (Base Plane Distance) relative to the world coordinate system origin. When the Base Plane Distance value is at the same position as geometry, the shader cannot determine whether it is above or below, which can cause artifacts to appear. Move the plane by setting this parameter's value to avoid overlap. |
