Setting up Water bodies and Oceans

Reality Builder - Water Setup (click to enlarge)

Overview

Reality has one of the most advanced water rendering engines to date, featuring perspective-optimized physical waves, per-pixel refractions and reflections (including dynamic skybox), high-dynamic range rendering, as well as rigid body physics simulation interactions.

Mini-Tutorial

1. From the dropdown actor spawn box, select "WaterSurface" and click Create.
2. An ocean body will appear in your map at Y=0. Readjust map geometry to correct height, then click anywhere on the water to select it. Doing so will display its parameters in the tab on the right side.
3. The parameters are self-documented in the information boxes when you click each item, so experiment by adjusting and see the effects. There are 6 basic presets, which you can test by changing the preset number from 1 to 6.
4. All changes you make to the water are saved in the scene. Though there seems to be a small intermittent bug with saving water color.

• TIP: If the water is getting in your way while working on other scene items, you can select it and click freeze or hide.