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Percentage Closer Soft Shadows #3631

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superdump opened this issue Jan 10, 2022 · 2 comments · Fixed by #13497
Closed

Percentage Closer Soft Shadows #3631

superdump opened this issue Jan 10, 2022 · 2 comments · Fixed by #13497
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A-Rendering Drawing game state to the screen C-Feature A new feature, making something new possible

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@superdump
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superdump commented Jan 10, 2022

Description

  • Light sources have a physical size and are not just points. This means that occluding/blocking the light rays coming from a physical source do not result in a receiving surface being either fully lit or fully in shadow, but rather from fully lit, gradually fading through the so-called 'penumbra' to being fully in shadow (known as 'umbra'). Shadows with hard edges do not look physically correct, and while many might accept them, the visual improvement from having realistic soft shadows adds a lot to the atmosphere of a scene.

Solution

Next Steps

  • Fix PCSS bugs
  • Fix Adaptive Depth Bias for Soft Shadows approach for a very significant performance increase
  • Make a PR
@superdump superdump changed the title Percentage Closer Soft Shadows - https://github.com/superdump/bevy/tree/shadow-pcss Percentage Closer Soft Shadows Jan 10, 2022
@superdump superdump added A-Rendering Drawing game state to the screen C-Feature A new feature, making something new possible labels Jan 10, 2022
@superdump superdump self-assigned this Jan 16, 2022
@torsteingrindvik
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I was looking at all issues with the mention of "shadows" in order to see if there was one that tackled issues with point light shadows.

Currently on 0.13:

image

I saw you mentioned point lights in a commit msg in the branch you linked to, so I'm guessing this is the right place.

Commenting in order to show that the issue is still relevant and perhaps others wondering about point lights might see this and can subscribe to the issue too.

@pcwalton
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pcwalton commented May 22, 2024

@torsteingrindvik That is point light PCF, not PCSS, and I added it a while ago in main. It should ship with 0.14.

pcwalton added a commit to pcwalton/bevy that referenced this issue May 22, 2024
pcwalton added a commit to pcwalton/bevy that referenced this issue May 22, 2024
[Percentage-closer soft shadows] are a technique from 2004 that allow
shadows to become blurrier as objects become farther apart.

A new example, `pcss`, has been added. It demonstrates the
percentage-closer soft shadow technique with directional lights, point
lights, non-temporal operation, and temporal operation. The assets are
my original work.

Fixes bevyengine#3631.

[Percentage-closer soft shadows]: https://developer.download.nvidia.com/shaderlibrary/docs/shadow_PCSS.pdf
pcwalton added a commit to pcwalton/bevy that referenced this issue May 22, 2024
[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*] are a technique from 2004 that allow
shadows to become blurrier farther from the objects that cast them. It
works by introducing a *blocker search* step that runs before the normal
shadow map sampling. The blocker search step detects the difference
between the depth of the fragment being rasterized and the depth of the
nearby samples in the depth buffer. Larger depth differences result in a
larger penumbra and therefore a blurrier shadow.

To enable PCSS, fill in the `soft_shadow_size` value in
`DirectionalLight` or `PointLight`. This shadow size value represents
the size of the light and should be tuned as appropriate for your scene.
Higher values result in a wider penumbra (i.e. blurrier shadows).

When using PCSS, temporal shadow maps
(`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal`) are recommended. If you don't use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal` and instead use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Gaussian`, Bevy will use the same technique as
`Temporal`, but the result won't vary over time. This produces a rather
noisy result. Doing better would likely require downsampling the shadow
map, which would be complex and slower (and would require PR bevyengine#13003 to
land first).

A new example, `pcss`, has been added. It demonstrates the
percentage-closer soft shadow technique with directional lights, point
lights, non-temporal operation, and temporal operation. The assets are
my original work.

Fixes bevyengine#3631.

[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*]:
https://developer.download.nvidia.com/shaderlibrary/docs/shadow_PCSS.pdf
pcwalton added a commit to pcwalton/bevy that referenced this issue May 22, 2024
[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*] are a technique from 2004 that allow
shadows to become blurrier farther from the objects that cast them. It
works by introducing a *blocker search* step that runs before the normal
shadow map sampling. The blocker search step detects the difference
between the depth of the fragment being rasterized and the depth of the
nearby samples in the depth buffer. Larger depth differences result in a
larger penumbra and therefore a blurrier shadow.

To enable PCSS, fill in the `soft_shadow_size` value in
`DirectionalLight` or `PointLight`. This shadow size value represents
the size of the light and should be tuned as appropriate for your scene.
Higher values result in a wider penumbra (i.e. blurrier shadows).

When using PCSS, temporal shadow maps
(`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal`) are recommended. If you don't use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal` and instead use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Gaussian`, Bevy will use the same technique as
`Temporal`, but the result won't vary over time. This produces a rather
noisy result. Doing better would likely require downsampling the shadow
map, which would be complex and slower (and would require PR bevyengine#13003 to
land first).

A new example, `pcss`, has been added. It demonstrates the
percentage-closer soft shadow technique with directional lights, point
lights, non-temporal operation, and temporal operation. The assets are
my original work.

Fixes bevyengine#3631.

[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*]:
https://developer.download.nvidia.com/shaderlibrary/docs/shadow_PCSS.pdf
pcwalton added a commit to pcwalton/bevy that referenced this issue May 22, 2024
[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*] are a technique from 2004 that allow
shadows to become blurrier farther from the objects that cast them. It
works by introducing a *blocker search* step that runs before the normal
shadow map sampling. The blocker search step detects the difference
between the depth of the fragment being rasterized and the depth of the
nearby samples in the depth buffer. Larger depth differences result in a
larger penumbra and therefore a blurrier shadow.

To enable PCSS, fill in the `soft_shadow_size` value in
`DirectionalLight` or `PointLight`. This shadow size value represents
the size of the light and should be tuned as appropriate for your scene.
Higher values result in a wider penumbra (i.e. blurrier shadows).

When using PCSS, temporal shadow maps
(`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal`) are recommended. If you don't use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal` and instead use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Gaussian`, Bevy will use the same technique as
`Temporal`, but the result won't vary over time. This produces a rather
noisy result. Doing better would likely require downsampling the shadow
map, which would be complex and slower (and would require PR bevyengine#13003 to
land first).

A new example, `pcss`, has been added. It demonstrates the
percentage-closer soft shadow technique with directional lights, point
lights, non-temporal operation, and temporal operation. The assets are
my original work.

Fixes bevyengine#3631.

[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*]:
https://developer.download.nvidia.com/shaderlibrary/docs/shadow_PCSS.pdf
pcwalton added a commit to pcwalton/bevy that referenced this issue May 22, 2024
[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*] are a technique from 2004 that allow
shadows to become blurrier farther from the objects that cast them. It
works by introducing a *blocker search* step that runs before the normal
shadow map sampling. The blocker search step detects the difference
between the depth of the fragment being rasterized and the depth of the
nearby samples in the depth buffer. Larger depth differences result in a
larger penumbra and therefore a blurrier shadow.

To enable PCSS, fill in the `soft_shadow_size` value in
`DirectionalLight` or `PointLight`. This shadow size value represents
the size of the light and should be tuned as appropriate for your scene.
Higher values result in a wider penumbra (i.e. blurrier shadows).

When using PCSS, temporal shadow maps
(`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal`) are recommended. If you don't use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal` and instead use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Gaussian`, Bevy will use the same technique as
`Temporal`, but the result won't vary over time. This produces a rather
noisy result. Doing better would likely require downsampling the shadow
map, which would be complex and slower (and would require PR bevyengine#13003 to
land first).

A new example, `pcss`, has been added. It demonstrates the
percentage-closer soft shadow technique with directional lights, point
lights, non-temporal operation, and temporal operation. The assets are
my original work.

Fixes bevyengine#3631.

[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*]:
https://developer.download.nvidia.com/shaderlibrary/docs/shadow_PCSS.pdf
pcwalton added a commit to pcwalton/bevy that referenced this issue May 24, 2024
[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*] are a technique from 2004 that allow
shadows to become blurrier farther from the objects that cast them. It
works by introducing a *blocker search* step that runs before the normal
shadow map sampling. The blocker search step detects the difference
between the depth of the fragment being rasterized and the depth of the
nearby samples in the depth buffer. Larger depth differences result in a
larger penumbra and therefore a blurrier shadow.

To enable PCSS, fill in the `soft_shadow_size` value in
`DirectionalLight` or `PointLight`. This shadow size value represents
the size of the light and should be tuned as appropriate for your scene.
Higher values result in a wider penumbra (i.e. blurrier shadows).

When using PCSS, temporal shadow maps
(`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal`) are recommended. If you don't use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal` and instead use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Gaussian`, Bevy will use the same technique as
`Temporal`, but the result won't vary over time. This produces a rather
noisy result. Doing better would likely require downsampling the shadow
map, which would be complex and slower (and would require PR bevyengine#13003 to
land first).

A new example, `pcss`, has been added. It demonstrates the
percentage-closer soft shadow technique with directional lights, point
lights, spot lights, non-temporal operation, and temporal operation. The
assets are my original work.

Fixes bevyengine#3631.

[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*]:
https://developer.download.nvidia.com/shaderlibrary/docs/shadow_PCSS.pdf
pcwalton added a commit to pcwalton/bevy that referenced this issue May 24, 2024
[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*] are a technique from 2004 that allow
shadows to become blurrier farther from the objects that cast them. It
works by introducing a *blocker search* step that runs before the normal
shadow map sampling. The blocker search step detects the difference
between the depth of the fragment being rasterized and the depth of the
nearby samples in the depth buffer. Larger depth differences result in a
larger penumbra and therefore a blurrier shadow.

To enable PCSS, fill in the `soft_shadow_size` value in
`DirectionalLight` or `PointLight`. This shadow size value represents
the size of the light and should be tuned as appropriate for your scene.
Higher values result in a wider penumbra (i.e. blurrier shadows).

When using PCSS, temporal shadow maps
(`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal`) are recommended. If you don't use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal` and instead use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Gaussian`, Bevy will use the same technique as
`Temporal`, but the result won't vary over time. This produces a rather
noisy result. Doing better would likely require downsampling the shadow
map, which would be complex and slower (and would require PR bevyengine#13003 to
land first).

In addition to PCSS, this commit makes the near Z plane for the shadow
map configurable on a per-light basis. Previously, it had been hardcoded
to 0.1. This was necessary to make the point light shadow map in the
example look reasonable, as otherwise the shadows appeared far too
aliased.

A new example, `pcss`, has been added. It demonstrates the
percentage-closer soft shadow technique with directional lights, point
lights, spot lights, non-temporal operation, and temporal operation. The
assets are my original work.

Fixes bevyengine#3631.

[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*]:
https://developer.download.nvidia.com/shaderlibrary/docs/shadow_PCSS.pdf
pcwalton added a commit to pcwalton/bevy that referenced this issue May 24, 2024
[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*] are a technique from 2004 that allow
shadows to become blurrier farther from the objects that cast them. It
works by introducing a *blocker search* step that runs before the normal
shadow map sampling. The blocker search step detects the difference
between the depth of the fragment being rasterized and the depth of the
nearby samples in the depth buffer. Larger depth differences result in a
larger penumbra and therefore a blurrier shadow.

To enable PCSS, fill in the `soft_shadow_size` value in
`DirectionalLight`, `PointLight`, or `SpotLight`, as appropriate. This
shadow size value represents the size of the light and should be tuned
as appropriate for your scene.  Higher values result in a wider penumbra
(i.e. blurrier shadows).

When using PCSS, temporal shadow maps
(`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal`) are recommended. If you don't use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal` and instead use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Gaussian`, Bevy will use the same technique as
`Temporal`, but the result won't vary over time. This produces a rather
noisy result. Doing better would likely require downsampling the shadow
map, which would be complex and slower (and would require PR bevyengine#13003 to
land first).

In addition to PCSS, this commit makes the near Z plane for the shadow
map configurable on a per-light basis. Previously, it had been hardcoded
to 0.1 meters. This change was necessary to make the point light shadow
map in the example look reasonable, as otherwise the shadows appeared
far too aliased.

A new example, `pcss`, has been added. It demonstrates the
percentage-closer soft shadow technique with directional lights, point
lights, spot lights, non-temporal operation, and temporal operation. The
assets are my original work.

Fixes bevyengine#3631.

[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*]:
https://developer.download.nvidia.com/shaderlibrary/docs/shadow_PCSS.pdf
pcwalton added a commit to pcwalton/bevy that referenced this issue May 24, 2024
[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*] are a technique from 2004 that allow
shadows to become blurrier farther from the objects that cast them. It
works by introducing a *blocker search* step that runs before the normal
shadow map sampling. The blocker search step detects the difference
between the depth of the fragment being rasterized and the depth of the
nearby samples in the depth buffer. Larger depth differences result in a
larger penumbra and therefore a blurrier shadow.

To enable PCSS, fill in the `soft_shadow_size` value in
`DirectionalLight`, `PointLight`, or `SpotLight`, as appropriate. This
shadow size value represents the size of the light and should be tuned
as appropriate for your scene.  Higher values result in a wider penumbra
(i.e. blurrier shadows).

When using PCSS, temporal shadow maps
(`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal`) are recommended. If you don't use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal` and instead use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Gaussian`, Bevy will use the same technique as
`Temporal`, but the result won't vary over time. This produces a rather
noisy result. Doing better would likely require downsampling the shadow
map, which would be complex and slower (and would require PR bevyengine#13003 to
land first).

In addition to PCSS, this commit makes the near Z plane for the shadow
map configurable on a per-light basis. Previously, it had been hardcoded
to 0.1 meters. This change was necessary to make the point light shadow
map in the example look reasonable, as otherwise the shadows appeared
far too aliased.

A new example, `pcss`, has been added. It demonstrates the
percentage-closer soft shadow technique with directional lights, point
lights, spot lights, non-temporal operation, and temporal operation. The
assets are my original work.

Both temporal and non-temporal shadows are rather noisy in the example,
and, as mentioned before, this is unavoidable without downsampling the
depth buffer, which we can't do yet. Note also that the shadows don't
look particularly great for point lights; the example simply isn't an
ideal scene for them. Nevertheless, I felt that the benefits of the
ability to do a side-by-side comparison of directional and point lights
outweighed the unsightliness of the point light shadows in that example,
so I kept the point light feature in.

Fixes bevyengine#3631.

[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*]:
https://developer.download.nvidia.com/shaderlibrary/docs/shadow_PCSS.pdf
pcwalton added a commit to pcwalton/bevy that referenced this issue May 24, 2024
[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*] are a technique from 2004 that allow
shadows to become blurrier farther from the objects that cast them. It
works by introducing a *blocker search* step that runs before the normal
shadow map sampling. The blocker search step detects the difference
between the depth of the fragment being rasterized and the depth of the
nearby samples in the depth buffer. Larger depth differences result in a
larger penumbra and therefore a blurrier shadow.

To enable PCSS, fill in the `soft_shadow_size` value in
`DirectionalLight`, `PointLight`, or `SpotLight`, as appropriate. This
shadow size value represents the size of the light and should be tuned
as appropriate for your scene.  Higher values result in a wider penumbra
(i.e. blurrier shadows).

When using PCSS, temporal shadow maps
(`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal`) are recommended. If you don't use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal` and instead use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Gaussian`, Bevy will use the same technique as
`Temporal`, but the result won't vary over time. This produces a rather
noisy result. Doing better would likely require downsampling the shadow
map, which would be complex and slower (and would require PR bevyengine#13003 to
land first).

In addition to PCSS, this commit makes the near Z plane for the shadow
map configurable on a per-light basis. Previously, it had been hardcoded
to 0.1 meters. This change was necessary to make the point light shadow
map in the example look reasonable, as otherwise the shadows appeared
far too aliased.

A new example, `pcss`, has been added. It demonstrates the
percentage-closer soft shadow technique with directional lights, point
lights, spot lights, non-temporal operation, and temporal operation. The
assets are my original work.

Both temporal and non-temporal shadows are rather noisy in the example,
and, as mentioned before, this is unavoidable without downsampling the
depth buffer, which we can't do yet. Note also that the shadows don't
look particularly great for point lights; the example simply isn't an
ideal scene for them. Nevertheless, I felt that the benefits of the
ability to do a side-by-side comparison of directional and point lights
outweighed the unsightliness of the point light shadows in that example,
so I kept the point light feature in.

Fixes bevyengine#3631.

[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*]:
https://developer.download.nvidia.com/shaderlibrary/docs/shadow_PCSS.pdf
pcwalton added a commit to pcwalton/bevy that referenced this issue May 24, 2024
[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*] are a technique from 2004 that allow
shadows to become blurrier farther from the objects that cast them. It
works by introducing a *blocker search* step that runs before the normal
shadow map sampling. The blocker search step detects the difference
between the depth of the fragment being rasterized and the depth of the
nearby samples in the depth buffer. Larger depth differences result in a
larger penumbra and therefore a blurrier shadow.

To enable PCSS, fill in the `soft_shadow_size` value in
`DirectionalLight`, `PointLight`, or `SpotLight`, as appropriate. This
shadow size value represents the size of the light and should be tuned
as appropriate for your scene.  Higher values result in a wider penumbra
(i.e. blurrier shadows).

When using PCSS, temporal shadow maps
(`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal`) are recommended. If you don't use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal` and instead use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Gaussian`, Bevy will use the same technique as
`Temporal`, but the result won't vary over time. This produces a rather
noisy result. Doing better would likely require downsampling the shadow
map, which would be complex and slower (and would require PR bevyengine#13003 to
land first).

In addition to PCSS, this commit makes the near Z plane for the shadow
map configurable on a per-light basis. Previously, it had been hardcoded
to 0.1 meters. This change was necessary to make the point light shadow
map in the example look reasonable, as otherwise the shadows appeared
far too aliased.

A new example, `pcss`, has been added. It demonstrates the
percentage-closer soft shadow technique with directional lights, point
lights, spot lights, non-temporal operation, and temporal operation. The
assets are my original work.

Both temporal and non-temporal shadows are rather noisy in the example,
and, as mentioned before, this is unavoidable without downsampling the
depth buffer, which we can't do yet. Note also that the shadows don't
look particularly great for point lights; the example simply isn't an
ideal scene for them. Nevertheless, I felt that the benefits of the
ability to do a side-by-side comparison of directional and point lights
outweighed the unsightliness of the point light shadows in that example,
so I kept the point light feature in.

Fixes bevyengine#3631.

[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*]:
https://developer.download.nvidia.com/shaderlibrary/docs/shadow_PCSS.pdf
pcwalton added a commit to pcwalton/bevy that referenced this issue May 24, 2024
[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*] are a technique from 2004 that allow
shadows to become blurrier farther from the objects that cast them. It
works by introducing a *blocker search* step that runs before the normal
shadow map sampling. The blocker search step detects the difference
between the depth of the fragment being rasterized and the depth of the
nearby samples in the depth buffer. Larger depth differences result in a
larger penumbra and therefore a blurrier shadow.

To enable PCSS, fill in the `soft_shadow_size` value in
`DirectionalLight`, `PointLight`, or `SpotLight`, as appropriate. This
shadow size value represents the size of the light and should be tuned
as appropriate for your scene.  Higher values result in a wider penumbra
(i.e. blurrier shadows).

When using PCSS, temporal shadow maps
(`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal`) are recommended. If you don't use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal` and instead use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Gaussian`, Bevy will use the same technique as
`Temporal`, but the result won't vary over time. This produces a rather
noisy result. Doing better would likely require downsampling the shadow
map, which would be complex and slower (and would require PR bevyengine#13003 to
land first).

In addition to PCSS, this commit makes the near Z plane for the shadow
map configurable on a per-light basis. Previously, it had been hardcoded
to 0.1 meters. This change was necessary to make the point light shadow
map in the example look reasonable, as otherwise the shadows appeared
far too aliased.

A new example, `pcss`, has been added. It demonstrates the
percentage-closer soft shadow technique with directional lights, point
lights, spot lights, non-temporal operation, and temporal operation. The
assets are my original work.

Both temporal and non-temporal shadows are rather noisy in the example,
and, as mentioned before, this is unavoidable without downsampling the
depth buffer, which we can't do yet. Note also that the shadows don't
look particularly great for point lights; the example simply isn't an
ideal scene for them. Nevertheless, I felt that the benefits of the
ability to do a side-by-side comparison of directional and point lights
outweighed the unsightliness of the point light shadows in that example,
so I kept the point light feature in.

Fixes bevyengine#3631.

[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*]:
https://developer.download.nvidia.com/shaderlibrary/docs/shadow_PCSS.pdf
pcwalton added a commit to pcwalton/bevy that referenced this issue May 25, 2024
[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*] are a technique from 2004 that allow
shadows to become blurrier farther from the objects that cast them. It
works by introducing a *blocker search* step that runs before the normal
shadow map sampling. The blocker search step detects the difference
between the depth of the fragment being rasterized and the depth of the
nearby samples in the depth buffer. Larger depth differences result in a
larger penumbra and therefore a blurrier shadow.

To enable PCSS, fill in the `soft_shadow_size` value in
`DirectionalLight`, `PointLight`, or `SpotLight`, as appropriate. This
shadow size value represents the size of the light and should be tuned
as appropriate for your scene.  Higher values result in a wider penumbra
(i.e. blurrier shadows).

When using PCSS, temporal shadow maps
(`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal`) are recommended. If you don't use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal` and instead use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Gaussian`, Bevy will use the same technique as
`Temporal`, but the result won't vary over time. This produces a rather
noisy result. Doing better would likely require downsampling the shadow
map, which would be complex and slower (and would require PR bevyengine#13003 to
land first).

In addition to PCSS, this commit makes the near Z plane for the shadow
map configurable on a per-light basis. Previously, it had been hardcoded
to 0.1 meters. This change was necessary to make the point light shadow
map in the example look reasonable, as otherwise the shadows appeared
far too aliased.

A new example, `pcss`, has been added. It demonstrates the
percentage-closer soft shadow technique with directional lights, point
lights, spot lights, non-temporal operation, and temporal operation. The
assets are my original work.

Both temporal and non-temporal shadows are rather noisy in the example,
and, as mentioned before, this is unavoidable without downsampling the
depth buffer, which we can't do yet. Note also that the shadows don't
look particularly great for point lights; the example simply isn't an
ideal scene for them. Nevertheless, I felt that the benefits of the
ability to do a side-by-side comparison of directional and point lights
outweighed the unsightliness of the point light shadows in that example,
so I kept the point light feature in.

Fixes bevyengine#3631.

[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*]:
https://developer.download.nvidia.com/shaderlibrary/docs/shadow_PCSS.pdf
pcwalton added a commit to pcwalton/bevy that referenced this issue May 25, 2024
[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*] are a technique from 2004 that allow
shadows to become blurrier farther from the objects that cast them. It
works by introducing a *blocker search* step that runs before the normal
shadow map sampling. The blocker search step detects the difference
between the depth of the fragment being rasterized and the depth of the
nearby samples in the depth buffer. Larger depth differences result in a
larger penumbra and therefore a blurrier shadow.

To enable PCSS, fill in the `soft_shadow_size` value in
`DirectionalLight`, `PointLight`, or `SpotLight`, as appropriate. This
shadow size value represents the size of the light and should be tuned
as appropriate for your scene.  Higher values result in a wider penumbra
(i.e. blurrier shadows).

When using PCSS, temporal shadow maps
(`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal`) are recommended. If you don't use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal` and instead use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Gaussian`, Bevy will use the same technique as
`Temporal`, but the result won't vary over time. This produces a rather
noisy result. Doing better would likely require downsampling the shadow
map, which would be complex and slower (and would require PR bevyengine#13003 to
land first).

In addition to PCSS, this commit makes the near Z plane for the shadow
map configurable on a per-light basis. Previously, it had been hardcoded
to 0.1 meters. This change was necessary to make the point light shadow
map in the example look reasonable, as otherwise the shadows appeared
far too aliased.

A new example, `pcss`, has been added. It demonstrates the
percentage-closer soft shadow technique with directional lights, point
lights, spot lights, non-temporal operation, and temporal operation. The
assets are my original work.

Both temporal and non-temporal shadows are rather noisy in the example,
and, as mentioned before, this is unavoidable without downsampling the
depth buffer, which we can't do yet. Note also that the shadows don't
look particularly great for point lights; the example simply isn't an
ideal scene for them. Nevertheless, I felt that the benefits of the
ability to do a side-by-side comparison of directional and point lights
outweighed the unsightliness of the point light shadows in that example,
so I kept the point light feature in.

Fixes bevyengine#3631.

[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*]:
https://developer.download.nvidia.com/shaderlibrary/docs/shadow_PCSS.pdf
github-merge-queue bot pushed a commit that referenced this issue Sep 18, 2024
[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*] are a technique from 2004 that allow
shadows to become blurrier farther from the objects that cast them. It
works by introducing a *blocker search* step that runs before the normal
shadow map sampling. The blocker search step detects the difference
between the depth of the fragment being rasterized and the depth of the
nearby samples in the depth buffer. Larger depth differences result in a
larger penumbra and therefore a blurrier shadow.

To enable PCSS, fill in the `soft_shadow_size` value in
`DirectionalLight`, `PointLight`, or `SpotLight`, as appropriate. This
shadow size value represents the size of the light and should be tuned
as appropriate for your scene. Higher values result in a wider penumbra
(i.e. blurrier shadows).

When using PCSS, temporal shadow maps
(`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal`) are recommended. If you don't use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Temporal` and instead use
`ShadowFilteringMethod::Gaussian`, Bevy will use the same technique as
`Temporal`, but the result won't vary over time. This produces a rather
noisy result. Doing better would likely require downsampling the shadow
map, which would be complex and slower (and would require PR #13003 to
land first).

In addition to PCSS, this commit makes the near Z plane for the shadow
map configurable on a per-light basis. Previously, it had been hardcoded
to 0.1 meters. This change was necessary to make the point light shadow
map in the example look reasonable, as otherwise the shadows appeared
far too aliased.

A new example, `pcss`, has been added. It demonstrates the
percentage-closer soft shadow technique with directional lights, point
lights, spot lights, non-temporal operation, and temporal operation. The
assets are my original work.

Both temporal and non-temporal shadows are rather noisy in the example,
and, as mentioned before, this is unavoidable without downsampling the
depth buffer, which we can't do yet. Note also that the shadows don't
look particularly great for point lights; the example simply isn't an
ideal scene for them. Nevertheless, I felt that the benefits of the
ability to do a side-by-side comparison of directional and point lights
outweighed the unsightliness of the point light shadows in that example,
so I kept the point light feature in.

Fixes #3631.

[*Percentage-closer soft shadows*]:
https://developer.download.nvidia.com/shaderlibrary/docs/shadow_PCSS.pdf

## Changelog

### Added

* Percentage-closer soft shadows (PCSS) are now supported, allowing
shadows to become blurrier as they stretch away from objects. To use
them, set the `soft_shadow_size` field in `DirectionalLight`,
`PointLight`, or `SpotLight`, as applicable.

* The near Z value for shadow maps is now customizable via the
`shadow_map_near_z` field in `DirectionalLight`, `PointLight`, and
`SpotLight`.

## Screenshots

PCSS off:
![Screenshot 2024-05-24
120012](https://github.com/bevyengine/bevy/assets/157897/0d35fe98-245b-44fb-8a43-8d0272a73b86)

PCSS on:
![Screenshot 2024-05-24
115959](https://github.com/bevyengine/bevy/assets/157897/83397ef8-1317-49dd-bfb3-f8286d7610cd)

---------

Co-authored-by: Alice Cecile <alice.i.cecile@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Torstein Grindvik <52322338+torsteingrindvik@users.noreply.github.com>
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