Table of Contents
Techniques for Accurate Lighting and Shadow Placement in Unity
Understanding Lighting Models
Unity provides different lighting models, such as Forward and Deferred rendering. Each has its pros and cons when it comes to lighting and shadow fidelity. For complex scenes with many dynamic lights, Deferred rendering is generally preferred due to its efficient handling of multiple light sources.
Light Types and Their Uses
- Directional Lights: Best used to simulate sunlight, casting parallel light rays and shadows.
- Point Lights: Emit light uniformly in all directions, similar to a light bulb, suitable for enclosed environments.
- Spot Lights: Emit light in a cone shape, suitable for focused effects like flashlights.
Utilizing Global Illumination
Enable Baked Global Illumination for static scenes to improve realism by pre-computing indirect lighting, ensuring dynamic shadows align correctly with the environment.
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Shadows Optimization
- Use Shadow Cascades to improve the quality of shadows by adjusting the cascade count based on camera distance.
- For performance, adjust the Shadow Distance in Quality Settings to balance between quality and performance.
Post-Processing Effects for Atmosphere
Implement post-processing effects such as Ambient Occlusion to enhance depth perception and Bloom to simulate the afterimages of bright areas. These effects can help create a more immersive atmosphere.
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Ensure that lightmaps are correctly set up by baking them frequently during development. Use the Light Explorer in Unity to manage and tweak lighting assets efficiently.