Shadows

The SpeedTree Runtime SDK includes a sample shadow system to detail how our classes and shaders might interact with a typical cascaded shadow map system. The sample depth-only shaders included with the reference application use the same vertex declarations as the lit/deferred shaders.

Forward rendering

Our example forward rendering shadow system is in place to do the following:

• Enable rapid prototyping of real-time shadow maps
• Demonstrate that SpeedTree can work in a completely dynamic lighting environment
• Work out the problems associated with rendering geometry using shadow maps so that integrations may go more smoothly

Our sample shadow system can be decoupled from the shaders very easily and we expect this will happen in every SpeedTree/engine integration.

Deferred rendering

The only way the SpeedTree pipeline and the Runtime SDK can assist with shadows in a deferred system is by generating appropriate shadow-casting shaders. The rest of the shadow system is independent of the shaders generated by the SpeedTree pipeline.