Appearance
Presets and actions
Section selector
The selector at the top of the panel switches between:
- Flow — presets, drops, streams, masks, secondary drops, appearance, and advanced controls.
- Puddles — receiver selection, puddle amount, and puddle-mask painting.
The bottom Generate/Regenerate action remains available in both sections.
Water Look presets
Look presets update existing add-on materials immediately. They do not rebuild geometry.
| Preset | Roughness | Absorption | Contact Sheen | Small Drop Shine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clear | 0.02 | 0.25 | 0.25 | 0.35 |
| Natural | 0.03 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.25 |
| Soft Highlights | 0.12 | 0.4 | 0.65 | 0.18 |
| Dark Scene | 0.06 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.15 |
All four use transmission 1.0 and IOR 1.333. Natural is the default. Changing a Look value manually changes the menu label to Custom.
Water Amount presets
Amount presets change geometry and puddle settings. Choose Regenerate Water after applying one.
| Preset | Small Amount | Small Spacing | Small Size | Big Drops | Big Spacing | Big Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light Mist | 250 | 0.008 m | 0.002–0.004 m | 250 | 0.02 m | 0.002–0.004 m |
| Wet | 600 | 0.005 m | 0.0025–0.005 m | 600 | 0.014 m | 0.0025–0.005 m |
| Soaked | 900 | 0.004 m | 0.003–0.006 m | 1,000 | 0.01 m | 0.003–0.005 m |
| Heavy Runoff | 1,200 | 0.003 m | 0.003–0.007 m | 1,400 | 0.008 m | 0.004–0.007 m |
| Preset | Streams | Stream radius | Hanging | Hang radius | Airborne | Air radius | Puddle Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light Mist | 4 | 0.004 m | 4 | 0.008 m | 1 | 0.005 m | 0.25 |
| Wet | 12 | 0.006 m | 12 | 0.012 m | 4 | 0.007 m | 0.6 |
| Soaked | 20 | 0.008 m | 25 | 0.015 m | 10 | 0.008775 m | 1.0 |
| Heavy Runoff | 40 | 0.012 m | 40 | 0.02 m | 16 | 0.012 m | 1.6 |
Soaked is the default. Changing a saved Amount value manually changes the menu label to Custom.
Save and remove custom presets
The buttons beside either preset menu use Blender's native preset storage:
- + saves the current values under a name you choose.
- − removes the active custom preset.
Look presets and Amount presets are stored separately. The selected label is also saved in the .blend.
Mask actions
| Action | Result |
|---|---|
| Paint | Creates or selects the relevant color attribute and enters Vertex Paint. |
| Allow | Selects the brush value that permits water or puddles. |
| Block | Selects the brush value that excludes water or erases puddle areas. |
| Exit Paint | Returns from Vertex Paint to Object Mode. |
| Use Scene Camera | Replaces the droplet mask with the vertices visible to the active camera. |
See Masks and puddles for the complete workflow and rendered examples.
Generation actions
Generate Water
Available when the active object is a selected mesh in Object Mode. It creates the first owned output for that target.
Regenerate Water
Replaces the active target's owned output using the current settings. Direct edits to generated objects are replaced.
Remove Water
The trash button removes only output owned by the active target. It leaves the target mesh, its original material, authoring masks, and output belonging to other targets intact.
Apply Recommended Bounces
This action appears only when the render engine is Cycles and one or more water-relevant light-path settings are low. It raises insufficient values to:
| Setting | Minimum |
|---|---|
| Max Bounces | 8 |
| Glossy Bounces | 4 |
| Transmission Bounces | 8 |
| Transparent Max Bounces | 8 |
Existing values above those minimums are not reduced.