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Create your first wet surface ​

This tutorial starts with one mesh and produces a complete wetness effect.

1. Prepare the target ​

  1. Select one mesh in Object Mode.
  2. Give it an active material if it does not already have one.
  3. Place the object at the scale you intend to render.

The add-on reads the evaluated mesh, so modifiers and object scale are included. Distance controls are scaled automatically from the target's longest dimension.

2. Open Procedural Wetness ​

  1. Press N in the 3D Viewport.
  2. Open the Wetness tab.
  3. Leave the top selector on Flow.

The default Natural look and Soaked amount are a useful first result.

Built-in water amount presets — Light Mist
Light Mist

3. Generate water ​

Choose Generate Water at the bottom of the panel. The add-on creates:

  • small drops distributed with Geometry Nodes;
  • editable big-drop and stream curves;
  • hanging and airborne drop curves when valid anchors exist;
  • wet-film shading in the target's active material.

After the first run, the action changes to Regenerate Water button.

4. Tune the result ​

Change one panel at a time:

  • Drops controls small and big droplets.
  • Streams & Flow controls runoff and splitting.
  • Hanging & Airborne controls drops leaving the surface.
  • Water Look changes existing water materials immediately.
  • Advanced changes the layout seed, curve profile, maximum stream width, and gravity.

Use Regenerate Water button after changing geometry or placement controls. See All controls for the complete reference and rendered comparisons for controls whose effect is best judged visually.

5. Render transparent water correctly ​

Water is sensitive to lighting and ray depth. In Cycles, the Water Look panel warns when these values are below the add-on's recommended minimums:

Cycles settingRecommended minimum
Max Bounces8
Glossy Bounces4
Transmission Bounces8
Transparent Max Bounces8

Choose Apply Recommended Bounces to raise only insufficient values.

6. Remove or rebuild the result ​

  • Choose the trash button to remove water owned by the active target.
  • Use Regenerate Water button to replace that target's generated output.

Regeneration overwrites edits made directly to generated curves. Duplicate or convert a finished curve before regeneration if you want to keep a manual edit.

Procedural Wetness for Blender 5.2