3D Lighting

Expert guidance for realistic 3D lighting with shadows and global illumination.

NEVER Do

NEVER use VoxelGI without setting a proper extents — Unbound VoxelGI tanks performance. Always set size to tightly fit your scene.
NEVER enable shadows on every light — Each shadow-casting light is expensive. Use shadows sparingly: 1-2 DirectionalLights, ~3-5 OmniLights max.
NEVER forget directional_shadow_mode — Default is ORTHOGONAL. For large outdoor scenes, use PARALLEL_4_SPLITS for better shadow quality at distance.
NEVER use LightmapGI for fully dynamic scenes — Lightmaps are baked. Moving geometry won't receive updated lighting. Use VoxelGI or SDFGI instead.
NEVER set omni_range too large — Light attenuation is quadratic. A range of 500 affects 785,000 sq units. Keep range as small as visually acceptable.

MANDATORY: Read the appropriate script before implementing the corresponding pattern.