Calvin ✨

Here we go: The cheap water caustics breakdown in @UnrealEngine! 49 instructions and 1 texture sample Works with dynamic lighting and has RGB split Details below :) #UE4Study #gamedev #indiedev #shaderspic.twitter.com/MhnwFdIKGC

The key here is the clever usage of WPbehindTranslucency. This allows us to project the caustics below the water plane in world space. Attach this at the end of your water shader, adding to the Base Color.pic.twitter.com/VKZftD0eDM

There is no procedural stuff here, the material function is an extension to the Motion_4waychaos found in the engine. The panning is equal in all 4 axes, as it is addictive. You can add a general direction to the pan by blending it with SoftLight, and then rotate the pannerspic.twitter.com/1rsovCIAeO

Towards the end, you can see the RGB split implementation. It requires the base texture to have RBG spit on it, and then it desaturates that using a sine wave. I used a free @Substance3D generator for this one, but you easily can split a BW texture in PS. https://share.substance3d.com/libraries/23 pic.twitter.com/FCKvaJkqOp

Finally, lerp the caustics with a simple depth fade :) This prevents caustics from being drawn below a certain point.pic.twitter.com/BhPFqrNp3f