this post was submitted on 13 Dec 2024
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Explain Like I'm Five
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It's a lighting technique that creates more realistic visuals, especially reflections.
The technique allows the GPU to "track" / calculate how the light should actually travel and what it bounces off of (like light in real life), compared to the pre-calculated methods of before.
So it will cost you processing power and therefore frames, but it greatly increases the visual accuracy of lighting, shadows and reflections.
A simple but effective example is Minecraft with Ray Tracing. The following video showcases the difference:
https://youtu.be/9qxfavtUs7w
Notice how the game looks completely different. That's what lighting can do for a game.
Obviously this is less noticeable when it's a game with realistic graphics and a lot of time spent on getting the (prebaked) lighting just right.
holy shit, RTX in minecraft is looking good!
the same channel you posted created a camera obscura in minecraft, thats something that only works with ray tracing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE7LWV-BFoA