RTX Global Illumination (RTXGI)

Leveraging the power of ray tracing, the RTX Global Illumination SDK provides scalable solutions to compute multi-bounce indirect lighting without bake times, light leaks, or expensive per-frame costs. RTXGI is supported on any DXR-enabled GPU, and is an ideal starting point to bring the benefits of ray tracing to your existing tools, knowledge, and capabilities.


Access RTXGI   Introductory Resources

RTXGI on and off comparison RTXGI on and off comparison

Use the slider to see the scene with and without RTXGI multi-bounce indirect lighting. Test out RTXGI in the RTX Technology Showcase

RTXGI Product Features


Fast multi-bounce indirect lighting has never been easier.

RTXGI's probe-based data structure temporally accumulates and filters lighting and distance information in real time, creating a high quality multi-bounce lighting cache with visibility information.

Strict frame budget? RTXGI provides an ideal balance between quality and performance for real-time applications with tight frame budgets through a low frequency approximation of the full path tracing process.

Infinite Bounce Lighting in Real Time

RTXGI in museum scene
Image from ICARUS, courtesy of RocketWerkz
(click on image to enlarge)

Content Creation at the Speed of Light

Light propes in RTXGI
(click on image to enlarge)

Accelerate your tools, pipeline, and artist workflows.

With RTXGI, the long waits for offline lightmap and light probe baking are a thing of the past. Artists get instant results in-editor or in-game. Move an object or a light, and global illumination updates in real time.

Decrease iteration times by cutting out time spent tuning light probe positions. No light or shadow leaking, right out of the box, without obsessing over probe placements.

Full source code puts you in control.

Customize RTXGI to your needs on any DXR-enabled GPU, including the GeForce RTX 30 series, RTX 20 Series, GTX 1660 Series, and GTX 10 series. RTXGI's scalable design gives you the control to decide when and where you want to crank up performance or max out image quality.

One Scalable Solution for All

RTXGI’s scalable design  shown in forest scene
(click on image to enlarge)

RTXGI Plugin for Unreal Engine

RTXGI is now available in Unreal Engine 4.27 and 5.0 Preview 2 through our official RTXGI UE plugin. Now, Unreal Engine developers can access this scalable solution that computes multi-bounce indirect lighting without bake times, light leaks, or expensive per-frame costs.


RTXGI on and off comparison in museum scene

Access the RTXGI UE Plugin

How RTXGI Works

 Download RTXGI SDK Presentation Deck (PDF)

NVIDIA Ray Tracing News


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Keep Up with the Latest in NVIDIA Game Development

NVIDIA RTXGI Sessions On-Demand



FAQ

A: RTXGI is a software development kit that leverages the power of GPU ray tracing to provide scalable solutions for the computation of global illumination in real-time graphics applications.
A: Yes! The ability to trace arbitrary rays is an essential component that enables the flexibly to dynamically update lighting information at runtime.
A: Unlike existing real-time global illumination solutions, RTXGI uses real-time ray tracing to dynamically update lighting information - eliminating the need for pre-computation or baking steps.
A: The RTXGI SDK is a full source distribution. The SDK includes the complete C++ and HLSL source code of the SDK and UE plugin, as well as documentation for the SDK code and UE plugin. A full source sample application that demonstrates how to use the SDK is also included.
A: RTXGI is available as a plugin for Unreal Engine 4.27 and 5 RTXGI also comes pre-installed in the NVIDIA RTX branch of UE4. Unreal Engine 5.1 is not supported.
A: We are working closely with Unity to bring RTXGI support to their engine as soon as possible. Stay tuned!
A: The RTXGI SDK supports the DirectX Raytracing (DXR) API on Windows and Vulkan Ray Tracing API on Windows and Linux.
A: The RTXGI SDK supports x86-64 on Windows and x86-64 and ARM64 architectures on Linux.
A: RTXGI works with any DXR enabled GPU. This includes all NVIDIA RTX 30 series, RTX 20 series, GTX 1660 series, and GTX 10 series products.
A: The RTXGI SDK is available now to qualified developers by submitting a request. The RTXGI UE4 plugin is pre-installed in the NVIDIA RTX branch and is also available as a binary plugin on the UE4 marketplace.
A: Yes! We encourage students and academics of all kinds to explore what RTXGI makes possible.

Ready to get started developing with RTXGI?

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