Deferred Lighting: Dynamic objects receive shadows from Static objects, but do NOT cast shadows on them.Forward Rendering: Dynamic objects cast shadows on Static objects, but do NOT receive shadows from them.Realtime shadows strongly vary depending on the rendering path used for the lights marked as Auto: Only one directional light can cast realtime shadows in Forward Rendering.Single set of lightmaps (half memory used).Works with any rendering path (Forward Rendering, Deferred Lighting, Vertex Lit).(2) Some draw calls are saved as no shadows are being calculatedīaked-only lights are baked in the lightmap only, casting the shadows of the Static objects. (1) Many draw calls are saved as no lighting, bump/spec effects, nor real-time shadows are being applied Real-time lighting, specular / bump effects, no shadows (2) Realtime-only lights: Real-time lighting combined with the lightmap, specular / bump effects, no shadows (2) Real-time lighting and shadows, Specular / Bump effectsĪuto lights: Lightmap only – Major bump details are captured in lightmap as allowed by the lightmap resolution (1) The UVs at the right side have been calculated by Unity 3D, option Generate Lightmap UVs with default settings:Ĭlick to enlarge Lighting effects in Dual Lightmaps mode In this picture the UVs at the left side have been provided by Blender’s Lightmap Pack UV unwrap option with default settings. This will save unnecessary UV data on objects that won’t make use of lightmapping. The Generate Lightmap UVs option of Unity 3D already follows all these requirements.īest practice: Separately import the objects that will make use of lightmaps, then use the Generate Lightmap UVs import setting on them.
Lightmapping UVs must conform the specific requirements of lightmaps in order to avoid visual distortions and artifacts. All objects will receive a proper UV map for lightmapping upon import. Generated by Unity 3D: Enabling Generate Lightmap UVs at the Import Settings.If no valid UV channels are available for an object, its lightmap will be completely dark. If not, lightmapping will use the main UV channel. Provided by the 3D model: Lightmapping will use the second UV channel (uv2) if available.Also, the Bake button captures the actual Static flag for each object and the Lightmapping mode for the lights (changing these later requires a new Bake for the new settings to have effect). The option Lightmapping > Bake > Mode configures the type of lightmaps that will be generated with the Bake button. The Lightmap Display options are revealed then in the Scene view. The Lightmapping effects can be previewed in the Unity 3D editor when the Lightmapping window is selected. You must manually adjust Shadow Strength for matching the lightmapped shadows when the scene is casting realtime shadows (i.e. Shadows in the lightmap are calculated using the actual illumination: ambient light, sky, indirect lighting (bounces)… The Shadow Strength setting in the light objects is a realtime-only setting. Shadow intensity is different in the lightmap than in runtime If you have changed lightmap-related settings (lightmapping mode, lightmap static, light mode) then re-bake the lightmaps for the scene. Deferred Lighting + Directional light in Auto mode + Point light in Realtime-only modeĮnsure you’re using the correct Rendering Path (Forward Rendering or Deferred Lighting).