Staggart Creations compared two approaches to creating lifelike caustics.
Technical Environment Artist Jonathan van Immerzeel, also known as Staggart Creations, renowned for his various high-quality Unity assets, has shared a test comparing two methods of rendering water caustics, one using cross-panning textures and the other employing pre-rendered animated flipbook.
The artist believes this approach closely resembles Ubisoft's method for rendering caustics in shallow water and has shared the nodes for a closer look:
If you're in search of stylized water for your project, take a look at Staggart Creations' Stylized Water 3. It caters to both beginners and experienced users, providing a versatile solution for various water-related applications with a user-friendly design and a focus on artistic freedom.
The Underwater Rendering extension for Stylized Water 3 is still in development and is expected to be released in Q2 2025, so you might see these caustics in the final version.
Follow Staggart Creations on X/Twitter and visit his Unity Asset Store page for more great products. Also, join our 80 Level Talent platform and our new Discord server, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, TikTok, and Threads, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.