I'm getting to grips with the animation system which is not too bad at all, (though at the moment I seem to be creating stray key frames a lot!), but I am having big problems with the water.

I'm trying the presets, I'm trying tinkering with the presets. But all I get is a sort of glassy look.

The big problems are the razor sharp shore, and the transparency - I can't seem to get that 'fading at shallow depths' look that terragen can do so well.

Any clues? I've attached a picture.
Thanks,
Nick

hi, you can change the water with the function editor.. there are functions for watereffects. with the materialroom you can change the material and other options for your water.

Schoesser is correct, probably the water material parameter you want most to change is the "Becomes reflective at angle..:" on the 'Reflection' tab. On the 'Transparency' tab there is often a slider (maybe depending on which water material you choose) for "Murky Vs Clear".

People have created functions for changing the water to white at beaches or rocks, by creating a function driven by the distance to the ground under the water. Look for tutorials on "shoreline", "seashore", "function editor", etc.

Monsoon (mod of Vue forum at 3D Commune) sells a nice kit called SeaVue with lots of materials for white water, breakers on sand, white-capped waves, etc. He has several tutorials and cool freebies as well. I love his 'Ecowear' foreground ecosystems for land as well.

Check out my directory of Vue tutorials all over the web (please add suggestions when you find new ones). 

 _jc  'Art Head Start' e-book: Learn digital art skills $19.95
'Art Head Start.com Free chapter, Vue tutorials, models, Web Tutorials Directory.

Thanks for the tips guys, much appreciated.