Unity Shaders: Stylized Water
I'm a huge fan of Studio Ghibli movies and I've always wanted to replicate their visual style in a video game.
So, I've decided to start with emulating the look of the water in their movies.
I've started by analyzing what makes Studio Ghibli (and anime in general) water so identifiable.
Here are the features that to me, are the most important:
Below, a video of a demo of the water shader in action:
So, I've decided to start with emulating the look of the water in their movies.
I've started by analyzing what makes Studio Ghibli (and anime in general) water so identifiable.
Here are the features that to me, are the most important:
- waves - used on scenes where large open water surfaces (ocean or sea) are involved.
- depth based water color - the effect of water changing its color based on its depth. Usually a gradient of two tones, lighter on the surface and darker near the deep end.
- sky and environment reflection - used especially on large but closed water surfaces like lakes. On smaller surfaces like small rivers, only characters or objects laying on the surface are reflected.
- fake refraction - somekind of distortion is applied to the reflected image to mimic refraction
- water foam - foam generated by waves or by objects that intersect the water surface, like rocks, characters or the shoreline
Below, a video of a demo of the water shader in action: