Planar Reflection Probe

Planar Reflection Probe represents a planar surface that captures and projects a reflection relative to the camera onto a surface just like a mirror. For each visible Planar Reflection Probe on the scene a new temporary texture is created every frame.

Notice

Planar Reflection Probes currently support opaque materials only, to enable planar reflections for transparent materials (Alpha Blend, Additive, and Multiplicative transparency presets) use the corresponding option of the mesh_base material.

The texture is projected on a surface placed behind the Planar Reflection Probe. With Planar Reflection Probe you can create flat mirrors and flat dynamic reflective surfaces: parquet, flat varnished surfaces, etc.

NoticeThe reflections of one Planar Reflection Probe will not be rendered in the reflections of another Planar Reflection Probe (there are no "reflections in reflections").

Common Parameters#

Projection Size	Defines the box-shaped influence volume around the probe, in units, in which reflective surfaces (having the appropriate roughness values) shall use the results captured by the probe.
Attenuation Power	Sets the attenuation power for the projection. The higher the value, the faster the projection decays within the attenuation area.
Attenuation Distance	The attenuation distance specifies how far the projection can reach any surfaces from the Probe position. It also specifies the attenuation area around the Probe at which the projection starts to fade out at the specified rate.
Color	Sets the color modifier in the RGBA format for the projection that works like a filter. It can be useful when you need to artificially paint over the reflection in some color, or darken it. But if you need a physically correct reflection, then the color has to be strictly white.
Intensity	Sets the light color multiplier, which provides fine control over color intensity of the projection: The minimum value of 0 removes projection brightness and makes it invisible. Higher values make a more bright and intense color of projection.
Viewport Mask	Sets the Viewport mask for Planar Reflection Probe.
Visibility Distance	Distance from the camera in units, up to which reflected projection will be rendered.
Fade Distance	Distance from the camera in units, starting from which Planar Reflection Probe starts to fade out gradually.
Render on Water	Toggles rendering of reflections on the water surface.
Render on Transparent	Toggles rendering of reflections on transparent objects.

Planar Reflection Parameters#

Reflection Viewport Mask	The Reflection Viewport mask that controls rendering of Planar Reflection Probe reflections into the reflection camera viewport. Objects with matching viewport masks will be rendered.
Map Size	Specifies the reflection’s texture resolution in pixels. The texture is squared (height and width are equal). Notice Using high-resolution maps for reflections may significantly affect performance, as dynamic reflections are rendered each frame.
Two Sided	Enables projection for both sides. If this parameter is on, the reflection is projected on both sides of Planar Reflection Probe in opposite directions.
Roughness Samples	Sets the number of samples used to adjust quality of the blurring effect for the reflection on rough surfaces. The lowest value of 0 means that the blurring of projection is made using only mipmaps. Higher values result in better blurring quality, as more more randomized samples are used. Notice Rougher materials require more samples for smoother blurring reflection, but setting too high number of samples may cause a performance drop.
Roughness Visibility Min	Lower surface roughness limit, starting from which the reflection starts to fade out gradually.
Roughness Visibility Max	Upper surface roughness limit, starting from which the reflection completely disappears.
Distance Scale	Global distance multiplier within the range of [0.0f;100.0f] for the reflection LODs visibility distance. Distance Scale is applied to the distance measured from the reflection camera to the node (surface) bound. Notice This option enables rendering of less detailed LODs for reflections to increase performance.
Reflection Distance	The render distance for the reflection that specifies how far from the camera the reflection will be rendered.
Parallax	Degree of reflection distortion within the range of [0;1]. Distortion depends on an angle between the probe plane and the surface onto which the probe projects reflection. Increasing the value amplifies visual distortion as a result of increasing this angle.
Noise Intensity	Additional jitter for roughness samples that creates a noise effect on the reflection. Higher values make the noise effect more noticeable.
Reflection Offset	Z axis offset (relative to the probe local coordinate system) for the reflection. Can be used to change the viewpoint of the reflection camera moving it forward or backwards relative to the probe.
ZNear	Distance to the near clipping plane defining a frustum to be used for grabbing reflections.
ZFar	Distance to the far clipping plane defining a frustum to be used for grabbing reflections. Notice The higher the value, the more distant objects will be rendered; therefore, high values are not recommended due to possible performance hit.
Visibility Sky	Renders sky in the reflection. Can be used, when the reflection is supposed to reflect closeby objects only.

In This Article:

See also#

Adding a Planar Reflection Probe#

Planar Reflection Probe Settings#

Common Parameters#

Planar Reflection Parameters#