This page explains the settings and properties you can use to configure the:
Water Volume Inspector
Additional properties
To see properties related to Fade, Caustics Intensity, and Caustics Plane Band Distance, you must enable them in Preferences > Core Render Pipeline. Select the Visibility option All Visible. These properties are not visible by default because they are not essential to use the feature, being primarily for performance optimization.
General
| Pool |
River |
Ocean |
Property |
Subproperty |
Description |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Surface Type |
N/A |
Specifies the type of water body that this surface should imitate. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Geometry Type |
N/A |
Specifies the shape of the water surface. The options are: Quad: Based on a square. Instanced Quads: Creates a finite water surface with multiple instanced grids to keep a higher vertex density. Custom Mesh: Based on a Mesh you provide. Overrides the vertical position of the vertices to keep the surface of the water consistently level. Infinite (Ocean only): Bounds the water surface with the Global Volume. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Time Multiplier |
N/A |
Specifies the shape of the water surface. The options are: Quad: Based on a square. Instanced Quads: Creates a finite water surface with multiple instanced grids to keep a higher vertex density. Custom Mesh: Based on a Mesh you provide. Overrides the vertical position of the vertices to keep the surface of the water consistently level. Infinite (Ocean only): Bounds the water surface with the Global Volume. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Script Interactions |
N/A |
Enable to have the ability to query the water surface position and current direction from the simulation. Refer to Scripting in the water system for more information. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Evaluate Ripples |
Only available if Script Interactions is active. Enable to have HDRP include ripples in the simulation on the CPU. Increases visual fidelity, but demands more from the CPU. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Tessellation |
N/A |
Enable to implement tessellation. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Max Tessellation Factor |
Set the level of detail HDRP applies to the surface geometry relative to the camera's position. A higher maximum tessellation factor makes the water surface more detailed and responsive to waves but increases the computational load. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Tessellation Factor Fade Start |
Set the distance from the camera where the tessellation detail begins to decrease. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Tessellation Factor Fade Range |
Set the distance from the camera at which the tessellation factor reaches 0. |
Simulation
| Pool |
River |
Ocean |
Property |
Subproperty |
Description |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Water Mask |
N/A |
Sets the texture used to attenuate or suppress swell (red and green channels) and ripples (blue channel) water frequencies. |
| No |
Yes |
Yes |
Agitation/Swell |
N/A |
N/A |
| No |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Repetition Size |
Controls the size of the water patch in meters. Larger values results in less visible repetition across the water surface. This parameter also affects the maximum amplitude of the swell frequency bands. |
| No |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Distant Wind Speed |
Controls the speed of the distant wind in kilometers per hour that blowed over the water surface for a long period of time. This indirectly controls the maximum amplitude and shape of the swell in a non-linear way. |
| No |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Chaos |
Controls how directional the swell is. The lower the value, the more the swell waves are traveling in the Distant Wind Orientation. |
| No |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Orientation |
Sets the orientation of distant wind in degrees in a counterclockwise fashion relative to the X world vector. This parameter only affects the swell with a chaos value inferior to one. |
| No |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Current Speed |
Sets the speed of the current for the swell in kilometers per hour. This current translates the I swell at a constant speed. |
| No |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Current Map |
Sets the texture used to modify the local swell or agitation currents. The Red and Green channel of Outdoor the texture contain the 2D direction of the current and Blue channel contains the influence of the current map. |
| No |
No |
Yes |
N/A |
First/Second Band |
N/A |
| No |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Amplitude Dimmer |
Controls the attenuation of amplitude on the frequency band of the swell. |
| No |
No |
Yes |
N/A |
Max Amplitude |
Displays the current maximum amplitude of the frequency band. |
| No |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Fade |
When enabled, HDRP starts fading the contribution of this frequency band over a given range. This helps reduce the aliasing artifacts at a distance. Automatic mode computes the fading range based on the Repetition Size parameter. |
| No |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Total Amplitude |
Displays the current maximum amplitude of the swell. This is the sum of the first and second frequency bands. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Ripples |
N/A |
When enabled, the Water System allows you to simulate and render ripples. The frequency range is not affected by the swell/agitation parameters. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Local Wind Speed |
Controls the speed of the local wind in kilometers per hour that is blowing over the water surface. This indirectly controls the maximum amplitude and shape of the ripples in a non-linear way. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Chaos |
Controls how directional the ripples are. The lower the value, the more the ripples are traveling in the Local Wind Orientation. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Motion |
Specifies if the Local Wind's Orientation and Current properties are inherited from the Swell/Agitation or set independently. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Fade |
When enabled, HDRP starts fading the contribution of this frequency band over a given range. This helps reduce the aliasing artifacts at a distance. Automatic mode computes the fading range based on the Repetition Size parameter. |
Water Decals
| Pool |
River |
Ocean |
Property |
Subproperty |
Description |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Region Size |
N/A |
Sets the extent of the decal region in meters. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Region Anchor |
N/A |
Sets the center of the decal region. If nothing is set, the region will follow the main camera transform. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Deformation |
N/A |
Specifies if decals deforming the surface of the water are supported. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Resolution |
Sets the resolution of the texture covering the region. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Foam |
N/A |
Specifies if decals injecting foam are supported. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Resolution |
Sets the resolution of the texture covering the region. |
Appearance
| Pool |
River |
Ocean |
Property |
Subproperty |
Description |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Custom Material |
N/A |
Sets a custom material that will be used to render the water surface. If set to None, a default material is used. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Smoothness |
N/A |
N/A |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Value Range |
Controls the smoothness value range over the Fade region. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Fade Range |
Specifies the range over which the smoothness is interpolated from close to distant. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Refraction |
N/A |
N/A |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Color |
Sets the color that is used to simulate the underwater refraction. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Maximum Distance |
Controls the maximum distance in meters used to clamp the underwater refraction depth. Higher value increases the distortion amount. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Absorption Distance |
Controls the approximative distance in meters that the camera can perceive through a water surface. This distance can vary widely depending on the intensity of the light the object receives. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Scattering |
N/A |
N/A |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Color |
Sets the color that is used to simulate the underwater refraction. The luminance of the color affects the intensity of the scattering terms. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Ambient Term |
Controls the intensity of the ambient scattering term. You can adjust this for artistic purposes. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Height Term |
Controls the intensity of the height based scattering. The higher the vertical displacement, the more the water receives scattering. You can adjust this for artistic purposes. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Displacement Term |
Controls the intensity of the displacement-based scattering. The bigger the horizontal displacement, the more the water receives scattering. You can adjust this for artistic purposes. |
| No |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Direct Light Tip Term |
Controls the intensity of the direct light scattering on the tip of the waves. The effect is more perceivable at grazing angles. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Direct Light Body Term |
Controls the intensity of the direct light scattering on the body of the waves. The effect is more perceivable at grazing angles. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Maximum Height Override |
Specifies a maximum wave height that overrides the simulation to support scattering properly for vertical deformation. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Caustics |
N/A |
N/A |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Caustics Resolution |
Specifies the resolution at which the water caustics are rendered (simulation only). |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Simulation Band |
Controls which simulation band is used for the caustics evaluation. The first (index 0) and second band (index 1) come from the swell simulation and the third (index 2) one from the ripples. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Virtual Plane Distance |
Sets the distance at which the simulated caustics are projected. High values generate sharper caustics but can cause artefacts. The larger the waves are, the further the plane distance should be to obtain sharp caustics. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Tiling Factor |
Sets a tiling factor for the water caustics. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Intensity |
Sets the intensity of the under-water caustics. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Caustics Plane Blend Distance |
Sets the vertical blending distance for the water caustics. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Directional Shadow |
When enabled, the water caustics will take into account the directional light's shadow. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Underwater |
N/A |
When enabled, HDRP will apply a fog and color shift to the final image when the camera is under the surface. This feature has a cost even when the camera is above the water surface. |
Foam
| Pool |
River |
Ocean |
Property |
Subproperty |
Description |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Persistence Mutliplier |
N/A |
Specifies the decal foam persistence multiplier. A higher value will lead to the foam remaining visible Outdoor longer. This option requires Foam to be enabled in the Water Decals section. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Current Influence |
N/A |
Specifies the influence of the swell current on foam. A value of zero means foam stays still, a value of one makes the foam match with current direction and speed. Ripples motion have no impact on foam. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Color |
N/A |
Sets the foam color. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Smoothness |
N/A |
Controls the simulation foam smoothness. |
| No |
Yes |
Yes |
Texture Tiling |
N/A |
Sets the per-meter tiling for the foam texture. |
| No |
Yes |
Yes |
Simulation Foam Amount |
N/A |
Sets the amount of foam. |
| No |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Mask |
Sets the texture used to attenuate or suppress the simulation foam. The red channel of the texture is used for the masking. |
| No |
Yes |
Yes |
N/A |
Wind Speed Dimmer |
Controls the foam intensity depending on the normalized Distant Wind Speed. The X axis refers to the normalized Distant Wind Speed, the Y axis refers to the dimmer value. |
Miscellaneous
| Pool |
River |
Ocean |
Property |
Description |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Rendering Layer Mask |
Specifies the rendering layers that render on the water surface. To use this feature, enable Decal Layers and/or Light Layers in your HDRP Asset. |
| Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Debug Mode |
Specifies the view of the debug mode used for the water surface. |
Water system volume override
To use a Volume Override, you must first add a Volume Profile.
Refer to The water system Volume Override for more information.
| Property |
Description |
| General > State |
Enable the override to render water surfaces. |
| Level of Detail> Triangle Size |
Sets the size of the triangle edge in screen space. |
| Lighting > Ambient Probe Dimmer |
Determines the influence of the ambient light probe on the water surface. |
Water system in the rendering debugger
The Main Camera and Scene Camera Rendering tabs of the Rendering Debugger window include Water among their frame settings.
water system in the HDRP Asset
You enable the water system in the HDRP Asset as the Use the water system in your Project describes. You can also adjust several related settings in the HDRP Asset.