Beach

[masonspappy]

Basically it's very simple: you need a mask (SSS or blue nodes) with a soft sea end and a harder coastal end, defining the basic distance between waves. Those can be broken up by (foam) fractals, and stacked and displaced up, using a color adjust shader between stacking for amount of foam, a transform shader for shifting each wave into sea a bit further. Then warp the whole lot (or warp the initial mask) and finally add a reflective shader from a total sea mask (covering the whole ocean with a soft edge), extending a bit onto the sand. The opposite of that (also warped, of course) sea mask is the dry area mask, for dry sand and (shifted inland or covered by another mask) higher ground, such as dunes or mountains). You need a sand color and a (masked) sea color just before getting the foam in. See... simple 

[matrix2003]

Great thread. Well played with the video! 

[TheBadger]

Hoser...................

lol

[Dune]

  Yeah, that's me allright    I know, once you put something together it seems so easy.

I'll make a nice version available through the new NWDA, as soon as it's online again. Have to clean it up, add some comment, and refine some loose ends, though. Still looking for perfect foam....

[yossam]

That sounds like a winner............

[mhaze]

Look forward to that

[Dune]

Perlin 3D makes nicer foam, a few sizes, warped a little.

[choronr]

This last image is gorgeous ... will also look forward to what you will have at NWDA.

[zaxxon]

In less enlightened times you would have been burned at the stake for sorcery  !  Also looking forward to the resumption of the NWDA and more offering from the Maestro.

[oldm4n]

I've heard about NWDA since I am here; I am looking forward to see it.

[Dune]

Small mistake in some extra displacement of the foam, forgot the offset (half of displacement), so some foam is down a little. I may better have used the color to displace. Dunes are not too good either. I will also try what it looks like if the foam is not RT reflective, but no-RT, while the water is RT reflective. Might save render time and make the foam more visible in the distance.

[Dune]

Last batch for now...

[mhaze]

Impressive as ever!

[masonspappy]

where are the renders? All I see are these photographs

[choronr]

This last iteration of three is sheer perfection. Seeing the shadowed portions of the foam truly enhances their thickness ...amazing.  Waiting to see these at NWDA.