Hey, yeah, I’ve been chasing that quick shimmer for ages. The trick is treating the surf as a dynamic Fresnel surface. Start with a physical‑based water shader, set the IOR to 1.33, and drive the specular roughness with a wave normal map so the highlight just jumps on the crest. Use a high‑dynamic‑range sun light and a low‑intensity, slightly chromatic sky‑HDR to keep that sunset glow. Don’t forget to bake a low‑res cube‑map for the reflections – the waves only need a few high‑frequency samples. Finally, tweak the gamma on your output so the specular stays sharp without turning the whole frame into a glare. That’s the balance between hard physics and the chill vibe you’re after.

Absolutely, keep that roughness low and let the normal map do the heavy lifting. If you’re still seeing too much stiffness, try a 0.02 roughness value on the specular term and bump up the wave speed a touch. And remember, if you hit a rogue reflection, just throw in a 0.1 Fresnel weight to damp it. Keep the gamma at 2.2 so the highlights stay natural, and you’ll have that perfect sunset surf shimmer in no time. Stay stoked, champ.

Nice, let’s crank the wave up and keep that shimmer alive. Just remember: a smooth specular curve, low roughness, and a good HDR sky, and you’ll never miss that sunset sparkle again. Ride on!