Onloaded Shadows

Onloaded Shadows

Onloaded Shadows is a technique by which shadow maps can be calculated asynchronously on the CPU. By using cascades, the shadow map for objects near the camera are calculated every frame on the GPU, but the shadow maps for objects in the second cascade and beyond are calculated less often on the CPU. This allows for better work balancing across the CPU and GPU.




OnloadedShadowsWeb1_small.jpg
OnloadedShadowsWeb2_small.jpg
OnloadedShadowsWeb3_small.jpg

Screenshot of the application with Onloaded Shadows technique.

Screenshot of the sample from the light's view with cascades visualized.

Screenshot of the sample upon start up.  Shadows further from the camera are calculated on the CPU asynchronously.



System Requirements Additional Code Samples
  1. CPU: Dual core or better (Intel® Core™ i5 or better suggested)
  2. GFX: DX9c capable graphics card
  3. OS: Microsoft Windows Vista* or Microsoft Windows 7*
  4. MEM: 2 GB of RAM or better
  5. Software:
    o DirectX SDK (June 2010 release or later)
    o Build with Microsoft Visual Studio 2008* w/SP1 or Visual Studio 2010*

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.



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