Here is my result, achieved with ParaView master (you cannot load .hdr files yet in PV 5.8):
The configuration is simple:
- The surface is opaque
- I used the Principled material (Metallic=0, Roughness=0.25) from the UI (select PBR interpolation)
- Color is #010412
- All lights are disabled and I use only this HDRI: https://hdrihaven.com/hdri/?h=spruit_sunrise
- Enable OSPRay pathtracer (200 samples per pixel)
I think we can achieve a better result with a dataset describing an enclosed surface rather than just the top surface, and having a velocity field, for instance, to use a colormap to change the color from blue to white at some parts of the surface.