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Reflection probes / Advanced Reflection Probe Features

Advanced Reflection Probe

Features
Two further features which can improve the visual realism obtained from
Reflection Probes are described below: Interreflections and Box
Projection.

Interreflections
You may have seen a situation where two mirrors are placed fairly close
together and facing each other. Both mirrors reflect not only the mirror
opposite but also the reflections produced by that mirror. The result is
an endless progression of reflections between the two; reflection
between objects like this are known as Interreflections.

Reflection probes create the cubemap by taking a snapshot of the view

from their position. However, with a single snapshot, the view cannot
show interreflections and so additional snapshots must be taken for
each stage in the interreflection sequence.

The number of times that a reflection can bounce back and forth
between two objects is controlled by the Reflection Bounces property in
the Lighting window (this is set globally for all probes rather than
individually for each probe). With a reflection bounce count of 1,
reflective objects viewed by a probe will be shown as black. With a
count of 2, the first level of interreflection will be visible, with a count of
3, the first two levels will be visible, and so on.

Note that the reflection bounce count also equals the number of times
the probe must be baked with a corresponding increase in the time
required to complete the full bake. You should therefore set the count
higher than one only when you know that reflective objects will be
clearly visible in one or more probes.

Box projection
Normally, the reflection cubemap is assumed to be at an infinite distance
from any given object. Different angles of the cubemap will be visible as
the object turns but it is not possible for the object to move closer or
farther away from the reflected surroundings. This often works very well
for outdoor scenes but its limitations show in an indoor scene; the
interior walls of a room are clearly not an infinite distance away and the
reflection of a wall should get larger the closer the object gets to it.

The Box Projection option (available on platforms supporting Shader

Model 3 or better) allows you to create a reflection cubemap at a finite
distance from the probe, thus allowing objects to show different-sized
reflections according to their distance from the cubemaps walls. The
size of the surrounding cubemap is determined by the probes zone of
effect, as determined by its Size property. For example, with a probe
that reflects the interior of a room, you should set the size to match the
dimensions of the room.
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