The primary color of the ground is set by clicking on the Ground Basic Color swatch and then choosing a color from the Windows color dialog. The texture Color swatch is used to specify a second color that is needed for ground patterns such as a checkerboard.
Colored - Exactly the same as a Plain ground. One color must be specified: the color of the ground. The sizing parameters are not used.
Checker - A traditional checkered ground plane. Two colors must be specified. The size of the ground's scale rectangle controls the size of the checker. You can scale the rectangle differentially to obtain a rectangular checker.
Grid - A line grid ground texture. Two colors must be specified. The first color is the ground's background color. The second color is the color of the grid lines. As with the Checker texture, the ground's scale rectangle controls the size of the grid. Again, you can scale the rectangle deferentially to obtain a rectangular grid.
Stripes - Very similar to the Grid texture, except parallel instead of crossing lines.
Dots - A texture with circular dots. Two colors must be specified. The first color is the ground's background color. The second color is the color of the dots. The ground's scale rectangle (X) size controls the spacing of the dots. Its (Y) size controls the radius of the dots. The (Z) scale is unused.
Crosses - A texture that paints crosses regularly across the ground plane. Two colors must be specified. The first color is the ground's background color. The second color is the color of the crosses. As with the Dots texture, the ground's scale rectangle (X) size controls the spacing of the crosses. The (Y) size controls the size of the crosses.
Brick - A regular brick-like texture. Two colors must be specified. The first is the color of the bricks, the second is the color of the mortar between the bricks. The (X) and (Y) size of the ground's size rectangle represent the horizontal and vertical size of the bricks.
Rough - This is a bumpy texture. The Rough texture is versatile and can be used to simulate things like sand dunes, rolling meadows and alien moonscapes. One color needs to be specified. A dusty yellow can be used for sand dunes, while a succulent green can be used for a meadow. The (X) and (Y) size of the ground's size rectangle control the density of the bumps.
A small size will give you a very bumpy surface. A larger size will yield long rolling bumps, suitable for a meadow. The (Z) scale value represents the height of the bumps. Too large a height will look unnatural and should be avoided.
Wave Textures - The Ripples, Wave and Ocean textures simulate waves. They are animated textures and will change over time. They have been set up to loop smoothly over 20-frame intervals. This means that if you want to create a looping animation with waves in it, it should be a multiple of 20 frames. The Renderer puts a specular highlight on waves. In effect, the waves are given a Gloss finish. A light should be placed correctly to catch the crests of the waves and display the specular highlight for best effect. In fact, the position of the light is probably the most important factor when you are animating waves. Also, the color you assign to the waves is of vital importance to achieving a realistic look.
Waves are generated by wave sources, which disturb the liquid and create the effect of waves. The waves will radiate out from the wave source in a predictable circular fashion. There can be one wave source, or several. If the waves generated by two or more waves sources meet, an interference pattern results. Often it is desirable to place the camera near such an area of interference, as the motion of the waves will seem complex and unpredictable, that is to say, more natural.
The Wave texture has just one wave source. This is located inside the ground's bounding rectangle. The (Y) size of the rectangle controls the wavelength of the waves (the larger the size, the longer the wavelength). The (Z) size (the height of the Z line) controls the height (amplitude) of the waves. The (X) size of the rectangle is not used to control anything.
The Ripples texture has several waves sources, about 10. These are placed at various points. Two of these wave sources are placed inside the ground size rectangle. The position of the ground size rectangle controls the position of the wave sources. As with the Wave texture, the (Y) size of the rectangle controls the wavelength of the waves. The (Z) size controls the height (amplitude) of the waves. However in the Ripples texture, the (X) size of the rectangle controls how dispersed the wave sources are. This is a very important variable, as it controls the density of the wave sources.
The Ocean texture's variables are identical to those of the Ripple texture, but the Ocean texture uses a different wave algorithm. While the Ripples texture produces waves that resemble ripples, the Ocean texture produces waves that resemble oceanic waves. The ocean texture uses 7 waves sources. It also has 3 wave sources that produce waves of a much longer wavelength. The 7 short wave sources are placed at random in the 3D universe. The positions of the 3 long wavelength wave sources is determined from the position of the ground's size rectangle. When you change the wavelength variable (by scaling the size rectangle) both the long and short wavelengths are changed. This means that the long wavelength wave sources always produce waves with the same size relative to the waves of the normal wave sources. These 3 long wavelength sources will interfere with the normal waves and produce 'waves-on- waves'. This effect is difficult to describe, so the best way to understand it is to try it for yourself.