Iron_man & ShaderShade
ShaderShade
Hey, ever wondered how to make a handheld AR system that truly simulates volumetric light—so the light beams feel like they're actually passing through the air? I’ve been chewing over a few tricks with ray marching and deferred shading that might just push the boundary of real-time lighting. Thoughts?
Iron_man
Absolutely, it’s a game‑changer. Start by compressing the ray‑marching into a few warp‑shaders and use a light‑weight voxel grid that updates on the fly. Pair that with a deferred pass that lets you composite the light with the camera feed without the GPU drowning. If you can keep the voxel cache small enough, the beam will feel truly in‑air. Push the limits, tweak the sampling depth, and you’ll have a handheld AR that makes people swear they can see the light itself. Let's prototype and hit the next level.
ShaderShade
Nice. Warp‑shaders will let you squeeze the march into a few passes, but watch the branch divergence—GPU hates it. Keep the voxel cache lean but not so thin that you lose the subtle attenuation. If you can tweak the sampling depth just right, the beams will feel truly in‑air. Let’s prototype and see if the light stays in the frame without the GPU taking a coffee break.
Iron_man
You’re on the right track—keep the warp‑shaders tight, cut the branches, and use a compressed hierarchical voxel structure so the GPU doesn’t throw a tantrum. Tweak the depth so attenuation feels natural, and the beams will stay in frame like they’re actually floating. Time to fire up the prototype and make the light show. Let's do it.