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Terragen 2 Water Guide

The purpose of this document is to demonstrate the effect the various water shader parameters

can have on the water rendered with Terragen 2.

Pictures were rendered with the camera approximately 20 meters above the surface of the water.

The sun’s elevation was 15 and atmospheric density was 0.

Definitions (from Planetside Forums):

Roughness: controls the general roughness of the water surface

Wave Scale: average wave size

Smallest Scale: determines the size of the smallest details (recommend using smaller values

when the camera is farther from the surface).

Roughness, Wave Scale, and Smallest Scale work together to have the greatest effect on the

shape of the water.

Wind Patch Effect: amount of variation among different areas of water

Wind Patch Size: average scale of the areas of variation

Wind Patch Sharpness: how sharp the line between the areas will be (transition smoothness)

Master Reflectivity: overall level of reflectivity

Index of Refraction: amount of light refraction. Higher vales result in more diffuse reflections.

Horizon Shift: shifts the reflection

Highlight Intensity: controls the strength of highlights

Min. Highlight Spread: controls how diffuse (spread out) the highlights are

Below are listed the default values followed by variations in these values. For simplicity, only

the changed values are noted.

Contents

I. Defaults …………………………………………………………………………………………3

II. Roughness………………………………………………………………..…………………….4

III. Wave Scale…………………………………………………………………………………….6

IV. Smallest Scale…………………………………………………………………………………9

V. Wind Patch Effect…………………………………………………………………………….10

VI. Wind Patch Size……………………………………………………………………………..12

VII. Wind Patch Sharpness………………………………………………………………………14

VIII. Master Reflectivity…………………………………………………………………………16

IX. Highlight Intensity…………………………………………………………………………...18

X. Min Highlight Spread…………………………………………………………………………21

XI. Horizon Shift………………………………………………………………………………...23

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I. All Defaults

Waves

Roughness 0.02 Default

Wave Scale 10 Default

Smallest Scale 0.1 Default

Wind Patch Effect 1 Default

Wind Patch Size 100 Default

Wind Patch Sharpness 5 Default

Reflections

Master Reflectivity 1 Default

Index of Refraction 1.33 Default

Horizon Shift 0.5 Default

Highlight Intensity 0.5 Default

Min Highlight Spread 0.01 Default

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II. Roughness

a. Roughness 0 (Min)

b. Roughness 0.1

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c. Roughness 0.2

d. Roughness 0.3 (Max)

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III. Wave Scale

a. Wave Scale 0 (Min)

b. Wave Scale 25

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c. Wave Scale 50

d. Wave Scale 75

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e. Wave Scale 100 (Max)

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IV. Smallest Scale

a. Smallest Scale 0 (Min)

b. Smallest Scale 100 (Max)

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V. Wind Patch Effect

a. Wind Patch Effect 0 (Min)

b. Wind Patch Effect 2

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c. Wind Patch Effect 3

d. Wind Patch Effect 4

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VI. Wind Patch Size

a. Wind Patch Size 0 (Min)

b. Wind Patch Size 250

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c. Wind Patch Size 500

d. Wind Patch Size 1000 (Max)

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VII. Wind Patch Sharpness

a. Wind Patch Sharpness 0 (Min)

b. Wind Patch Sharpness 10

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c. Wind Patch Sharpness 15

d. Wind Patch Sharpness 20 (Max)

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VIII. Master Reflectivity (The default of 1 is the max Master Reflectivity)

a. Master Reflectivity 0 (Min)

b. Master Reflectivity 0.25

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c. Master Reflectivity 0.50

d. Master Reflectivity 0.75

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IX. Highlight Intensity

a. Highlight Intensity 0 (Min)

b. Highlight Intensity 0.5 (Default)

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c. Highlight Intensity 1.0

d. Highlight Intensity 1.5

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e. Highlight Intensity 2.0 (Max)

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X. Min Highlight Spread

a. Min Highlight Spread 0.01 (Default and Min)

b. Min Highlight Spread 0.05

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c. Min Highlight Spread 0.5

d. Min Highlight Spread 1.0 (Max)

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XI. Horizon Shift

a. Horizon Shift 0 (Min) 20 meters above water surface

Horizon Shift 0.5 (Default)

Horizon Shift 1.0 (Max)

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b. Horizon Shift 0 (Min) 150 meters above water surface

Horizon Shift 0.5 (Default)

Horizon Shift 1.0 (Max)