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Official [Survey] Enlighten Baked GI Backend Deprecation (from 2023.1 release)

Discussion in 'Global Illumination' started by kristijonas_unity, Jan 10, 2022.

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  1. kristijonas_unity

    kristijonas_unity

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    What is happening?

    We are planning to remove the Enlighten baking backend for static lighting data with the 2023.1 release, which will make this baking backend unavailable in 2023.1 and future releases, as part of this update about Global Illumination in Unity (see the forum post “Update on Global Illumination 2021”). The last LTS version that provides access to the Enlighten baking backend will be 2022.3.

    Enlighten Realtime Global Illumination, on the other hand, will still be available until Unity 2024 LTS support ends.

    Why are we doing this?

    We are deprecating the Enlighten baking backend to simplify the light baking experience in Unity, while ensuring that we can more efficiently deliver quality to you. The removal of the Enlighten baking backend is the next step of this process.

    We believe that the best option for baking your static lighting data is to use the CPU or GPU Progressive Lightmapper and we are determined to keep improving it.

    What is the purpose of this survey?

    We want to be mindful of existing workflows and mitigate any risks for creators that will need to transition from the Enlighten baking backend to the Progressive Lightmapper.

    This survey is for Unity creators currently using the Enlighten baking backend, AND intending to upgrade to 2023.1+, and aims to better understand your existing workflows and why you prefer to use the Enlighten baking backend over the Progressive Lightmapper.

    We also want to explore ways to assist you with your transition from the Enlighten baking backend to the Progressive Lightmapper.

    Link to the survey

    Impact Feedback Survey: Enlighten Baking Backend Deprecation

    The survey will be open until the end of January 2022.
     
    Last edited: Jan 10, 2022
    kristijonas_unity, Jan 10, 2022
    #1

  2. Lars-Steenhoff

    Lars-Steenhoff

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    Simplify the light baking experience in Unity?

    If you have a game in longterm support it will not simplify keeping this game running, or adding new content that matches the old.
     
    Lars-Steenhoff, Jan 10, 2022
    #2
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  3. Lars-Steenhoff

    Lars-Steenhoff

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    And please give us a more realistic reason for removing, for example it would be making it easier for unity to focus resources on the progressive and not spend time and money on enlighten as that is a third party licenced product.
    For Unity users there is no benefit in having it removed.
     
    Lars-Steenhoff, Jan 10, 2022
    #3
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  4. Lars-Steenhoff

    Lars-Steenhoff

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    Lars-Steenhoff, Jan 10, 2022
    #4

  5. kristijonas_unity

    kristijonas_unity

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    To reiterate, Enlighten Realtime GI is not affected by this. It only concerns Enlighten Baked GI.

    Removing Enlighten Baked GI backend would allow us to focus primarily on the Progressive Lightmappers (CPU and GPU). This would remove legacy dependencies, in turn simplifying the code, thus reducing maintenance costs.

    Keep in mind that Enlighten Baked GI lacks several features present in the Progressive Lightmapper, included, but not limited to:
    • Baked LOD support
    • Transparencies
    • Bounces
    • Explicit denoising and filtering controls
    • Bake performance
    • Less prone to light leaking
     
    kristijonas_unity, Jan 10, 2022
    #5
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  6. Onigiri

    Onigiri

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    They are removing static baker not realtime GI
     
    Onigiri, Jan 10, 2022
    #6
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  7. Lars-Steenhoff

    Lars-Steenhoff

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    Thanks ! Feeling much better now.

    I thought the realtime part was going away. I misread it, and thanks for clarifiying the reasons. Sorry to make a fuss for apparently nothing.

    I'm just a little anxious when its about removing things. And I appreciate that Enlighten stays for realtime URP and the rest. And please don't remove the old render pipeline, just saying before anyone thinks its a good idea to do that.
     
    Lars-Steenhoff, Jan 10, 2022
    #7
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  8. Lars-Steenhoff

    Lars-Steenhoff

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    Just one more question generally, What is going to replace enlighten in 2024?

    "A robust solution for Baked and Real-time GIobal Illumination"

    And is there already some news about this?

    To understand why I get so anxious about about lightmapping is because I used to love Beast lightmapper, and never really found a faster solution for baking.
     
    Lars-Steenhoff, Jan 10, 2022
    #8
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  9. DavidLlewelyn

    DavidLlewelyn

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    This is an ongoing area of research for us, and therefore it is not possible to answer this at the present time.

    I know that is not the helpful answer you would ideally want, however do expect plenty of messaging on the subject as we finalize our plans.

    Thanks!!
     
    DavidLlewelyn, Jan 11, 2022
    #9
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  10. UnityLighting

    UnityLighting

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    Your main competitor right now is the Lumen ... you have to offer a GI solution like Lumen
    By 2024, Lumen may no longer be needed and RTX GI will be replaced.

    Enlighten is not a bad solution for now, but the next generation needs something better and be 100% dynamic global illumination

    Lumen vs Enlighten (3 min bake time):



    Enlighten baked GI is good for low-end CPUs... but for 2023 we don't need it anymore. GPU Lightmapper is the best choice
     
    UnityLighting, Jan 14, 2022
    #10
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  11. kristijonas_unity

    kristijonas_unity

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    kristijonas_unity, Jan 31, 2022
    #11

  12. UnityLighting

    UnityLighting

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    The only reason of using Enlighten Baking GI is the low power cpus and older devices like notebooks and mini cases that has no powerful gpu or cpu

    I have a Q8400 cpu on my mini case... The only working solution is the Enlighten baking with the very-low preset...

    So you can remove enlighten from the new versions of the unity and say to users that use the older unity editors for their old low power devices
     
    UnityLighting, Jan 31, 2022
    #12

  13. Zergling103

    Zergling103

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    One concern I have is why the Enlighten section is marked as "Deprecated" even though it is your only option if you want real-time GI.
     
    Zergling103, Feb 4, 2022
    #13

  14. kristijonas_unity

    kristijonas_unity

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    That's for the Enlighten Baked GI backend only. Realtime GI backend is not deprecated. Are you using an older Unity editor version?
     
    kristijonas_unity, Feb 4, 2022
    #14

  15. Zergling103

    Zergling103

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    Yes, 2020.2.0f1 to be specific.
     
    Zergling103, Feb 4, 2022
    #15

  16. Zergling103

    Zergling103

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    Also, I apologize for my confusion earlier in filling out the survey. When I read "baked" I must have not paid attention to the "static" qualifier afterwards, and thought it was referring to the "baked" visibility data Enlighten uses for realtime (non-static) GI.
     
    Zergling103, Feb 4, 2022
    #16
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  17. kristijonas_unity

    kristijonas_unity

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    This thread is now closed. Thank you for your responses.
     
    kristijonas_unity, Feb 9, 2022
    #17
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