RenderSettings

The settings in the <RenderSettings> group control rendering precision for transparency, shadowing, etc.

The following block lists the settings available in this group, with their default values. Descriptions of the settings are below.

<RenderSettings>
    <bias>0.005</bias>
    <tsIntersectionNormalization>true</tsIntersectionNormalization>
    <tsIntersectionOrthogonalization>true</tsIntersectionOrthogonalization>
    <tsOddUVFlipping>true</tsOddUVFlipping>
    <tsVertexNormalization>true</tsVertexNormalization>
    <tsVertexOrthogonalization>true</tsVertexOrthogonalization>
    <vertexMergeThreshold>0.001</vertexMergeThreshold>
</RenderSettings>

The following additional settings are available only for rendering scenes with "classic" materials.

<RenderSettings>
    <giTransparencyDepth>2</giTransparencyDepth>
    <ignoreLightLinks>false</ignoreLightLinks>
    <maxRayDepth>6</maxRayDepth>
    <maxShadowRays>4294967295</maxShadowRays>
    <minShadowRays>0</minShadowRays>
    <reflectionDepth>2</reflectionDepth>
    <reflectionThreshold>0.001</reflectionThreshold>
    <shadowDepth>2</shadowDepth>
    <shadowsIgnoreLightLinks>false</shadowsIgnoreLightLinks>
    <transparencyDepth>50</transparencyDepth>
</RenderSettings>

bias

An error threshold that helps avoid double intersections. For example, a shadow ray should not intersect the same triangle as the primary ray, but this can happen in practice due to limited numerical precision. The bias value moves the intersection point to eliminate this problem. If set to zero, this value is computed automatically depending on the scene size.

tsIntersectionNormalization

When enabled, normalizes tangent space basis vectors (tangent, binormal and normal) at every intersection point.

tsIntersectionOrthogonalization

When enabled, orthogonalizes tangent space basis vectors (tangent, binormal and normal) at every intersection point.

tsOddUVFlipping

When enabled, forces Beast to mirror tangent and binormal when the UV has an odd winding direction.

tsVertexNormalization

When enabled, normalizes tangent space basis vectors (tangent, binormal and normal) at every vertex.

tsVertexOrthogonalization

When enabled, orthogonalizes tangent space basis vectors (tangent, binormal and normal) at every vertex.

vertexMergeThreshold

Triangle vertices that are closer together than this threshold will be merged into one wherever possible (depending on other vertex data).

giTransparencyDepth

Controls the maximum transparency depth for Global Illumination rays. Used to speed up renderings with a lot of transparency (for example trees).

ignoreLightLinks

If enabled, light links will be ignored. All available light sources will be used for all objects.

maxRayDepth

The maximum number of "bounces" a ray can have before it is considered spent. Bounces include both reflections and refractions.

maxShadowRays

The maximum number of shadow rays per point that will be used to generate a soft shadow for any light source. Use this setting to shorten render times at the price of soft shadow quality.

Lowering the value of this setting lowers the maximum number of rays sent for any light sources that have a maximum shadow samples setting higher than this value, but does not raise the maximum number of rays sent for light sources that have a maximum shadow samples setting lower than this value. See also ILBSetShadowSamples().

minShadowRays

The minimum number of shadow rays that will be sent to determine if a point is lit by a specific light source. Use this setting to ensure that you get enough quality in soft shadows at the price of render times.

This value is capped at the value of <maxShadowRays>.

reflectionDepth

The maximum amount of reflections a ray can have before being considered spent.

reflectionThreshold

If the intensity of the reflected contribution is less than this threshold, the ray will be terminated.

shadowDepth

Determines which rays spawn shadow rays. Accepts the following values:

1: only primary rays spawn shadow rays.
2: the first secondary ray spawns a shadow ray as well.

shadowsIgnoreLightLinks

When enabled, each object casts shadows from all light sources instead of casting shadows only from linked light sources.

transparencyDepth

Determines which rays spawn transparency rays. Accepts the following values:

1: only primary rays spawn transparency rays.
2: the first secondary ray spawns a transparency ray as well.