Getting Started
with VNS 3: Lakes &
Streams
Part 6D. Lake
1. Half our job is done; we have
a lakebed. Go to the Water Task Mode, select the Lakes
category, and Add Component of this type.
2. Expand the Lakes category.
3. Go to the lower Scene-at-a-Glance list to the Vectors category.
4. Click and drag the Lake
Vector up and drop it on the Lake. Confirm the operation.
5. In the Lake Editor,
enter an Elevation
of 2063 meters.
6. Save the project and render
a preview.
7. Go to the lower S@G tab and open the Terrain Parameter Editor. Increase the Maximum Fractal Depth
to 3. Save the project and render a preview. This gives
us more detail along the beach.
8. Let's darken the beach. Bring
the Lake
Editor forward. Go to
the Beach page and open the Diffuse Color Color Editor.
9. Choose a medium brown and
Keep it.
10. On the Beach Height
page, change the Beach Height Minimum to 2 meters.
Combined with the default Beach Height Variation of 0.5
meters, Beach Material will be rendered 1.5-2.5 meters above
the Lake Elevation.
11. Go to the Water page
and Show Advanced Features  .
12. To create different colors
for shallow and deep water, we'll need a Material Gradient driven
by water depth. Show Material Controls 
and rename the Material Shallow.
13. Click on the right side of
the color gradient to add another pin. Name it Deep.
14. Create a Material Gradient
Driver Texture to drive the Water Materials.
15. Choose Dynamic Parameter
from the Selected Element dropdown list.
16. Select Water Depth
as the Parameter.
17. Leave Input Low at
0 meters and change Input High to 30 meters.
Close the Texture
Editor.
18. This gradient will cause
the Shallow Water Material to render at a depth of
0 meters and Deep Water Material to render at depths
of 30 meters and beyond.
19. Show Material Controls
again to hide its window.
20. Select the Shallow
pin and open the Diffuse Color Color Editor. If you forget which pin is which, check the Active
Item window on the Animation Toolbar. It reads Lake Water
Shallow.
21. Raise the Value to
40 and the Green to 100. Close the editor.
22. Increase the Optical Depth
to 5 meters to make the Shallow water more transparent.
23. Save the project and render
a preview.
24. To add a little breezy roughness
to the Shallow water, go to the Waves tab and increase
the Added Roughness to 0.25 meters. Create a texture.
25. Choose the F1 Cell Basis
Element.
26. Change the X and Y
Size to 2 meters.
27. To animate the texture, select
the Velocity tab. Change the Z value to 0.5
m/s. Close the Texture Editor.
28. To copy the Shallow
Water Material Roughness to the Deep Water Material, select
Roughness Texture Operations 
and Copy Texture.
29. Select the Deep Water
Material pin in the Material Gradient.
30. Change the Added Roughness
to 0.25 meters. Select Texture Operations 
and Paste Texture. Confirm the operation.
31. Save the project and render
a preview.
32. Water surface detail is dependent
on terrain resolution and Fractal Depth. The 10-second LakeViewWater.mov
animation shows the water rendered at a Maximum Fractal Depth
of 3.
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