Fast Blender 2.8 Underwater Environment Pre-Vis Style in EEVEE - Quick and Dirty

Learn how to make a fast underwater environment in Blender 2.8. This is more of a pre-vis style than a final frame render, but will give you a good starting point. It works well for cartoony stuff as well.
The project file is up on Patreon: / kevbcg
👍📲Grab a free CG Animation Time Saver eBook here, learn about the industry and get lots of shortcuts and links: www.virtualtwe...
Instagram: / kevbingecg
Twitter: / kevbinge

[@OBryanAguiar]

I never imagined myself cracking up that much to a blender tutorial. You are a legend man

[@KevBinge]

Thanks Bryan!! That made my day haha!

[@mika_mika1740]

So much casual fuck you in only 6 minutes. LIke any good designer would say

[@MhLiMz]

Back to your old narration style. I love it. Don‘t pay attention to the haters. Great q&d tutorials.

[@KevBinge]

Thanks! I did start off a the channel being bit sarcastic haha! I’m done with the haters. I’m not even trying with them anymore lol.

[@seanposkea]

I gotta say I wasn't sure at first about this "strap in and shut up" style of tutorials but they've really grown on me. Thumbs!

[@KevBinge]

Me either, but they are way quicker to make, especially with my non-existent free time lol. I want to return to the “shoot from the hip” style, but this is working right now for better or worse. Thanks!!

[@seanposkea]

@@KevBinge I make tutorials for the CAD software I teach. Nobody has any idea how long it takes.

[@livelynumberexperience7251]

I literally needed this exact thing for a project in school due tomorrow

[@KevBinge]

Excellent! Good luck with the project! I’m glad it helps 😀

[@Nebulaoblivion]

How'd it go?

[@vulpekulamedia2386]

You are the GOAT Kev sooooo happy in found your content! These DIRTY tutorials and the commentary... Just amazing man 🤜🏾🤛🏾🙏🏽

[@KevBinge]

Thank you!! 😀😀

[@mntvl4419]

Just use the fish tutorial from Ian Hubert and you have an ocean scene, quick and dirty :)

[@KevBinge]

Yup, a whole ocean 😉

[@undersun]

and don't forget the moths to give it realism

[@fabio4079]

Its called Pollution v.v

[@Yuuni_Shiroza]

Make it follow the fishes perhaps?

[@Matt_Aquila]

@@undersun MOTHS!

[@warwicklambert33]

Your commentary really enhances the tutorial info which is great in its own right. What a great way to start the day!

[@KevBinge]

Thanks Warwick!! That means a lot!!

[@volundr]

I hope youtube put you on the recommendation. This is quick and useful

[@KevBinge]

Thanks! I hope YT gives me some love at some point too haha! It would make producing videos a bit easier on the psyche 😀

[@danielbringhurst4541]

Another great job man. Concise but not rushed. Informative and enlightening. Refreshing sense of humor. You're awesome!

[@KevBinge]

Thank you so much! That makes my morning 😀

[@pincushion069]

Late to the party. . . just discovered your Blender tutorials. I have to admit I stopped working along and found myself just sitting here watching and laughing. Since when was a tutorial so much fun?! You are the best!

[@KevBinge]

Aww shucks!! Thanks Kathryn!! I try sometimes 😀

[@Subcoder]

If your cube has darkness at around @3:00 it's because your Ocean plane is casting a shadow, to fix in Blender 3.3 try this: Select the Ocean plane > Materials Tab > (scroll down) Settings > Shadow Mode = None While this gets rid of the "shadow" it also might remove caustics, if so... fml, fyl, at least we're together? I've never seen the Titanic so I still have Meshuggah/Neurotica in my head. Biznaches. 🤘😎

[@KevBinge]

Nice, thanks! I don’t do much in EEVEE at all anymore so this helps.

[@Subcoder]

@@KevBinge Np... I'm a bit of newbie still... AND not sure if this will just disable water caustics.

[@MoonieGlare]

This is making me notice how easy it is to make a shortfilm... love it!

[@KevBinge]

It’s not “hard” but does take quite a bit of work and patience lol.

[@Adrianmeb]

I love how you explain things

[@SheigonSheffield]

This is the best blender tutorial channel

[@KevBinge]

Thank you very much!!

[@StevenDiLeo]

You're hilarious, and teach useful stuff. Subbed.

[@KevBinge]

Thanks Steven!! Welcome 😀

[@MrSmooth001]

I am currently a week into blender, 3d creation in general. After completing the donut tut, I found a free course where a treasure chest was made. I wanted to put mine underwater and animate it and found this video for eevee. It was fun following this video to finish off my 3rd project in Blender!

[@KevBinge]

That’s so awesome!!

[@CmdrTigerKing]

@@KevBinge no ur awesome .. I kid I kid

[@Placeholderfornow23234]

I finished my first independent project with this. Awesome!

[@KevBinge]

Awesome!!!! Post it if you want here so others can see it if you want 😀

[@vivektyagi6848]

You make it look so easy. Thanks.

[@KevBinge]

It’s not hard once you practice and get used to doing these things. It just takes time 😀. Thanks!

[@mangyan1321]

its really cool animation thank you so much sir best tutorial for new blender users .....

[@KevBinge]

Thank you!!

[@dumpsky]

very nice! general underwater fact concerning 'shiny' : there is NO specularity under water at all! so turning it to 0 could even shave off some render processes. also, refraction is way different and generally less strong. since we do not use a real refractive water volume, we compensate by turning IOR for transparent materials way lower than normally. except for air bubbles, which refract very strongly still since they contain air. ;-)

[@KevBinge]

Thanks!!

[@martok2112]

Kev, you are a genius! Well done, as always!

[@KevBinge]

Thanks! I’m no genius though lol!!

[@PetRatPro]

Looks beautiful! Thank you for making this!

[@KevBinge]

Thank you for watching it 😀

[@something2664]

you are the man you did exactly what i wanted

[@KevBinge]

Thanks! I’m happy it helped!

[@7th_DimensionalCinema]

Thank man. Because of you in not scared of the nodes anymore!!

[@KevBinge]

That’s awesome to hear! Thanks!

[@khaledalkarmel6517]

An impressive skill from a great tutor. appreciated.

[@KevBinge]

Thank you very much!

[@khaledalkarmel6517]

your kind interest is highly appreciated. thank you.

[@KevBinge]

You’re welcome 😀

[@Cyber_Kriss]

"Quick and dirty" Still better than anything I tried so far...

[@KevBinge]

Thanks!!

[@LilBigfootOverlanding]

EPIC!!! And love the sarcasm😆👍

[@KevBinge]

Thanks!!

[@bloodrollers]

this is the best tutorial i've ever seen, so funny and simple hahaha. you are awesome!

[@KevBinge]

Thanks Markec! Sometimes I try haha!! 😁

[@enishi4ty5]

love the vid and commentary

[@KevBinge]

Thanks!! 😀

[@zapfsaeule2]

Excellent! So cool and quick :)

[@KevBinge]

Thank you!! 😁

[@mic9739]

Love your videos

[@KevBinge]

Thanks!!!

[@abuaysam6459]

this is really good , thanks

[@KevBinge]

You’re welcome! Thank you!

[@giorginocinzietti8849]

Can't wait for the caustics and plants tutorial!!!

[@KevBinge]

Thanks! They are coming 😀

[@HyperDev00]

SIMPLY !!!!! You Are Awesome!!!!

[@KevBinge]

Thanks!!!!!

[@3dslug99]

Amazing variation for free, and free is good cause this video is free and so is blender!!! Thank you

[@KevBinge]

Lol! You’re welcome, and thanks!

[@felixsmittick9128]

Saving this for later. When I get good at Blender. Thanks

[@KevBinge]

You are good at Blender, you just haven’t discovered it yet 😀

[@bouncycow3010]

This is an amazing video! Please do evee grass next!

[@KevBinge]

Great idea! I’ll put in on the list 😀😀. Thanks!!

[@phibshkl117]

dude this is the best tutorial

[@KevBinge]

Thank you!!

[@yvesmolina]

Magique, Big free thank you to you !

[@KevBinge]

Big thank you to you too!!!

[@SeriousSnapes]

Thanks for the sense of humour!

[@KevBinge]

You’re welcome, and thanks for the compliment 😀😀

[@davidcripps3011]

Brilliant, as always :-)

[@KevBinge]

Thanks!!

[@musatov75]

Amazing and fast!

[@KevBinge]

Thanks! About an hour in real time 😀

[@Khakame]

Very helpful information...i've been wanting to do this for some time...Thanks!!

[@KevBinge]

Excellent! I’m glad I got this one out then! Thanks!! 😀

[@petertremblay3725]

Fantastic Kevin and i like your type of humor since it's very similar to mine! Your new tutorials are very good and to the point so keep up the good work! Tip: to get more realistic bubbles use metaballs.

[@KevBinge]

Thanks Peter! I’m sarcastic in real life but in a fun way, not a cynical way. I love George Carlin and still refuse to believe he died lol. Thanks for the metaball tip! I always forget about those haha!!!

[@petertremblay3725]

@@KevBinge I miss George!

[@KevBinge]

So do I. Every day.

[@percophidae]

Doing a pisstake scene of the hunt for red october soon, this is perfect for the result I'm looking for. Cheers bloke.

[@KevBinge]

Awesome!! I’d love to see it!

[@guylemay1471]

If this is just a starting point, it's a darn good one! Now... if only I could get my hands on a scuba-diving suit???

[@KevBinge]

Thank you Guy! For me it’s a starting point after looking at a whole lot of underwater photography lol. Even the rocks have “some” flora. There may be some rays coming from the light at the surface, and the blurring is based on temperature differential and other factors that affect refraction. Still though, I’m happy with this starting point 😀. That’s why I said that haha!

[@hatsunemikuchannel2023]

I gonna do this for myself, thank you, Kev! 😯😯😊😊🥰🥰🤗🤗

[@KevBinge]

Please do! I'm excited for you :) Hit me up if you have any snags.

[@TopChannel1on1]

nice

[@KevBinge]

Thanks man!! Likewise on your newer meat and food videos. Very realistic!

[@TopChannel1on1]

blenderBinge thanks bro

[@IncubusOfDeath]

Freakin awesome! Thank you!

[@KevBinge]

Thank you, and you’re welcome!

[@ibydkt92]

"let's dive into a underwater scene" 😂 got be subscribed!

[@KevBinge]

Haha! Welcome aboard 😀😀

[@ibydkt92]

@@KevBinge 😂🙏!

[@RetroCowboy78]

Ahhh thank you I was having trouble finding a good sea beddy thingy!

[@KevBinge]

Haha! Yeah, this thingy works pretty well in a pinch 😀. Thanks!

[@j82cerberS]

Шикарно. Эх, жаль год назад не попалось сие видео. Очень бы тогда пригодилось.

[@adriangoleby]

Thanks for the tips and chuckles

[@KevBinge]

You’re welcome, and thank you 😀

[@pramodpatil6053]

you are AWESOME !

[@KevBinge]

Thanks!!!

[@jascrandom9855]

I'm loving this Lazy Tutorials trend.

[@KevBinge]

It’s definitely not lazy lol. This took me like at least 50 minutes to make. 😁

[@jascrandom9855]

@@KevBinge I figured.

[@KevBinge]

Lol

[@Anton_Yegorov]

Amazing... thanx a lot!

[@KevBinge]

You’re welcome!! 😀

[@burntt999]

the bevis and butthead laugh in the beginning at 0:02 makes me so happy :) lol

[@KevBinge]

Yeah... huh huh... lol!! Thanks!

[@morizanova8219]

Impressive

[@KevBinge]

Thanks!!

[@tiagotiagot]

Because water has a higher index of refraction than air, an air bubble should have less than 1.0 IOR (unless you actually have a ocean object and are using boolean to remove the air bubble out of the ocean volume; in that case just set the refraction index of the ocean to whatever is the right value for ocean water)

[@KevBinge]

Thanks!! I knew a few things looked off but didn’t look up the ior for this video. It was taking me long enough to put together as it was lol.

[@rudstar64]

Thanks! I’ll be making some nice stuff with this

[@KevBinge]

Awesome! Go for it 😀😀

[@Create-The-Imaginable]

Love your videos on EEVEE. Please do more! :-) EEVEE rocks! EEVEE is the next best thing to realtime ray tracing but on a much more affordable GPU!

[@KevBinge]

That’s why I’m playing with EEVEE in these videos. It’s fast and decent, versus Cycles at the moment, until the AI denoiser is fully online 😀. Thank you!!

[@ValeGoG]

Как же это все круто :)

[@KevBinge]

Спасибо. Я пытаюсь сделать это круто 😎

[@jessicalatch6070]

For anyone using 2.83, and having problems with the ocean plane causing a shadow on the sand plane, go to the ocean plane Material tab > Settings > Shadow Mode > "None"

[@KevBinge]

Thanks Jessica! Blender keeps updating so quickly haha!!

[@Rene_ag]

thanks you

[@dmennenoh]

And if you're in 3.0 - select the Ocean, Object Properties tab > Visibility > Ray Visibility - uncheck shadow

[@800pieds]

Your tutorial has been applied by Kiskit 3D in case you missed it. Gloomier mood :)

[@KevBinge]

Awesome! It’s gloomier and moves more 😀. Thanks!!

[@kiskit3d150]

@@KevBinge Thank you! I've set some smoke sim in the end, but with the ocean's volumetrics, it's barely visible. Art is difficult. Your tutorials are awesome. I'm sure I'll be using more of them in the future.

[@apexandfortnite2956]

Love the tuts when I can keep up lol

[@KevBinge]

Yeah lol. Speed didn’t really work for me yet back then haha.

[@457Deniz457]

*I Love It Quick And Dirty* 🤪

[@ChironLastBackup]

Like your wife, MUHAHAHAAHA

[@457Deniz457]

@@ChironLastBackup Lol :D I wish I had one :P

[@KevBinge]

Thanks Ray!! Lol

[@michaelsmusicinstruments9980]

thanks a lot, very entertaining

[@KevBinge]

You’re welcome, thanks!!

[@thehyruler2430]

Round bubbles actually don't exist underwater (And they DEFINITELY don't float downwards, ever). Underwater "bubbles" are shaped more like an upside-down bowl. When that's said though, it was a pretty cool and interesting tutorial.

[@KevBinge]

Thanks!! I didn’t realize that. Something new every day lol!!

[@new21life]

Просто и великолепно!!!

[@DofusMyl]

Yes!!

[@KevBinge]

Thanks!!

[@OgatRamastef]

yhanks

[@KevBinge]

You’re welcome 😀

[@omarakhtar3075]

You kidder!

[@KevBinge]

I keeeeeed I keeeeed lol!

[@omarakhtar3075]

@@KevBinge are you Joe King? I'm Super Cereal! kzbin.info/www/bejne/nmGYipmGlJ2Iqbc&ab_channel=Cr%C3%B6vestheAmazing

[@MsMidnightStories]

My dreams have come true !!!

[@KevBinge]

Great to hear that!!

[@MsMidnightStories]

@@KevBinge I've always wanted to make a under water 360 HDR and this is the answer, I just have to convert it over to cycles ! cheers

[@pstuddy]

That intro laugh😹😹😹

[@KevBinge]

😁

[@jeffstienstra3615]

I had to slow the speed down to .5 to follow along, but omg it sounded just like you're intoxicated and/or high at that speed! lol! 0:13

[@KevBinge]

Who said I’m not at normal speed? Lol!!!

[@soysource3218]

My bsdf volumetrics cube as shadows when placed under the waves. How do I fix that?

[@mikasuvanto9895]

I would like to thank you later for adding camera quick fav... i have no clue why that is need to do but i thank anyways...

[@KevBinge]

Lol!! I love adding that because I switch that on and off all the time haha.

[@soysource3218]

Whenever I try this the stupid wave plane casts a shadow dispite it having full transmission, which should cast any shadows. I have tried so many times.

[@KevBinge]

There is a blend setting on the materials tab. If you check that, and enable refraction on the EEVEE settings, it may get rid of the shadowing. Try that and see if it helps.

[@soysource3218]

@@KevBinge Thank you for responding so quickly, but which subsection in render properties it is in. Still thank you for help but if you could clear this up that would be great.

[@Subcoder]

Select the Ocean plane > Materials Tab > (scroll down) Settings > Shadow Mode = None A lot of people seem to behaving the same issue, that's what worked for me in version 3.3

[@cyberneticstudio8736]

HOW DID YOU MAKE THIS... i am trying to copy this but everything is different, for example my sand is blue, and everything is blue... Im stuck on murkyness. What is wrong?

[@cyberneticstudio8736]

My murkyness isnt nice its just black

[@KevBinge]

I might need to redo this one as Blender keeps changing and changing and changing. This was done in 2.80 if that helps?

[@91Soulja]

Hello and thank you for your tutorials! I don't get the same bubble look as you, even if I put the ior at 1.333 or under 1. I have the light reflection on it but not a real transparence like u. It takes the same color as my world. 🖖

[@KevBinge]

Thanks! In the Materials panel on he right side of the interface, play with the blending modes like additive, etc... anything but opaque and see if that lifts it at all. That’s strange...

[@Mads-hl8xj]

02:54 That Ctrl-T with Node Wrangler doesn't work for me... What does it do ?

[@KevBinge]

When you turn the addon on, it automagically links up an image, mapping, and input node for you so you don’t have to do it manually. It’s a great shortcut, but needs to be turned on in preferences.

[@IndianPrincess14]

Thank you very much for this tutorial. I followed the steps in the video, the bubbles are transparent in the viewport material preview but turns black when rendered. How can I solve this?

[@KevBinge]

Try to have more transparency bounces in the render settings. Let me know if that helps! Oh, for EEVEE, use the settings I discuss here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jGjZep6ghq6kpdU

[@IndianPrincess14]

@@KevBinge The principle BSDF with transmission turned to maximum does not make the bubbles transparent while rendering in the latest version of Blender. I watched your other suggested video and replacing the principle BSDF with glass and increasing its roughness made the bubbles transparent also when rendered. Thank you!!

[@maxsaltin1001]

Why no cycles content? Love your remarks you say something; and i loved the planet w asteroids doing that one next =)

[@KevBinge]

Thanks! I’ll do Cycles content as well, but right now EEVEE has me pretty excited. There is a ton of content detailing Cycles, but I’ll do some soon too 😀

[@simozn8240]

hi can you give a link of the file please? i really need it

[@nadagalou]

Good but do you know how to create caustic underwater with eevee ?

[@KevBinge]

True caustics are tricky. I had a workaround with shaders but EEVEE doesn’t project like Cycles. I’m working on something 😀

[@leecaste]

Are you going to make the cycles version?

[@KevBinge]

I may at some point. Once those with slower machines can render faster with AI denoiser. I like most people to feel like they can render this stuff even with slower machines 😀

[@giorginocinzietti8849]

Hey bro!Are you going to add a transparent plane with animated noise texture over the ocean plane for caustics?

[@KevBinge]

At the current build, EEVEE doesn’t allow for projection like that. I am working in a workaround and have a great setup but it only works on certain objects at the moment. Stay tuned.

[@iPumped]

Super super helpful, one problem however; my bubbles keep disappearing after the first frame upon starting their emission before 1 on the timeline. Anything to fix this?

[@iPumped]

nvm i forgot to bake them🙄

[@KevBinge]

I was going to ask 😀. I’m happy you resolved it.

[@dirtjournal9798]

Ctrl+T doesn't do anything, and I have node wrangler installed. Ctrl+shift+t brings up an add principled textured open box though.

[@poolieo25]

Using 2.91 and getting some weird red effect on the volumetric near the ocean plane? I thought it was just the scene I was working on but I tried again on a new scene and got the same result. It's manageable in eevee but looks terrible in cycles :(

[@KevBinge]

Yeah, this video is made for EEVEE in 2.8. It doesn’t translate well to Cycles in 2.9. I need to redo one soon 😀

[@dimasputra]

Mantap

[@GeneraalProff]

Great Tutorial :D only have one issue. Somehow the bump map on the mounds does not work, the network is alright since the same material network shows bump on a regular cube - only on the mounds it won't show :(

[@KevBinge]

Try using object or generated instead of IV on the texture input node and see if that works.

[@KingKong19100]

I have been trying to make an underwater scene in Cycles for so long! Can you make a tutorial on an underwater scene in Cycles that looks like this? If not, better? I'm also trying to get a god ray light beam effect through the water when I make the shot.

[@KevBinge]

Yes I can. Cycles actually looks 10 times better because it’s a path tracer and can do caustics really well. I’ll add it to the list!

[@KingKong19100]

@@KevBinge Thanks so much! Its so hard to ask that question without sounding like a Blender noob haha. I'm just trying to recreate this shot: imgur.com/a/yVYLmL4

[@KevBinge]

That’s a nice shot! Keep at it and you’ll nail it. That shot is ALL about the volume lighting.

[@hanji_master7280]

很棒的分享!! 超棒的

[@KevBinge]

谢谢你 我不能说好，所以我希望这是对的

[@musolo78]

That`s cool and interesting tutorial!!!) Would it be possible to se how this shot would be taken in to video editing window and after some manipulations then exported as final product? So that way the entire Brender video creation pipeline would be covered, making Blender an actual competitor to Adobe premiere and After effects. A suite that has been dominating the field way too long. Wonder if you could share your insights about making some stuff AE usually does, be it commercial 3d shorts or satellite imaging /game briefing type videos in EEVEE? Most interesting series would be to see how Blender does all AE tricks now. Thanks a lot for great content!!!

[@KevBinge]

Thanks! I can do videos on that. I will say though that After Effects has no real competitor. Blender has an end to end pipeline from sketching to comp, and nodal based too, which makes it very powerful. That said, After Effects is still very much in a class by itself. I’ve been waiting years for a viable alternative to the simple layers-based approach and ease of use in another app, and while Fusion, Nuke, and Flame (high end finishing) are like AE on steroids, they still don’t match the “all around” Swiss Army Knife functional simplicity of “Photoshop for video.” Blender can do some tremendous heavy lifting when it comes to content creation, but using it like After Effects is still pretty illusive. AE is still, in a few key respects, in a class of its own. (I’d love to see Adobe lose that crown, just to be clear 😀). That is the reason it’s still installed pretty much everywhere. Thanks!!

[@CGMatter]

yeet

[@KevBinge]

Thanks man!! I love your channel by the way, I laugh and laugh and laugh, but your knowledge is deep. Hit me up if you have questions about Houdini. I use it in production quite often.

[@oliverdoucette5374]

What did you do between 4:41 and 4:43? Suddenly everything looked different

[@KevBinge]

Ah, that one was in an edit, sorry about that. I changed the cube (volume) density a bit, turned the roughness up on the rock shader to make it less shiny, and took the light power down slightly. Play around with that and it will change in a similar way.

[@FA-sy7ew]

hey i want to create a rendered image where half of it is underwater and the other half is above. Would using this tutorial for the underwater part be useful? Im afraid the world color being changed would affect the above water part and wont produce a realistic image. Any ideas of how i can make my scene work??

[@KevBinge]

I wouldn’t do that type of thing in one camera, but use two renders and composite them together.

[@CharizardFan_og]

my bubbles look painted in, not transparent at all, how do i fix that? Blender 2.82?

[@KevBinge]

There is a setting in the material panel that allowed for alpha blending, as well as screen space refraction in the EEVEE settings. Try to turn those on and see what you get.

[@michaelvarney5997]

Everyone chasing the "quick tutorial" format. =)

[@KevBinge]

I’ll say scripted and edited. I love the long format ones but I can do 4 videos in the time it took me to do one of the longer ones. That said, the next one will be longer.