https://x.com/_cgman_/status/2037391440620503172?s=20
So, there’s a new Blender add-on called Real Caustics by Sergei Zakharov for a while, and it looks really nice!
In the real world, when light hits a water surface, it bends due to refraction ( in water or other glass-like materials ), and creating water caustics.
This add-on focuses on wavy surfaces like dynamic paint or water simulations to generate caustics that actually follow the surface shape, It renders quickly in both Cycles and even EEVEE.
You can tweaks the parameters for a single frame to preview bake result, and once you’re happy with it, you can bake the full animation range.
There are also several node groups included, and you can set everything up by following this tutorial :
You can find the add-on on Superhive! :
https://superhivemarket.com/products/real-caustics