Unity Lighting and Rendering Flashcards

Which Unity lighting mode bakes lighting information into lightmaps and does NOT update at runtime?

Answer: Baked

Baked lighting precomputes light and shadow data into lightmaps at editor time, so it cannot change during gameplay.

What component must be added to a camera to use Unity's Post-Processing Stack effects such as bloom and color grading?

Answer: Post-Process Layer

The Post-Process Layer component on a camera tells Unity to apply post-processing effects from nearby Post-Process Volumes.

In Unity's Universal Render Pipeline (URP), which asset stores global rendering settings such as shadow distance and quality tiers?

Answer: UniversalRenderPipelineAsset

The UniversalRenderPipelineAsset (a ScriptableObject) holds pipeline-wide settings including shadow distance, MSAA, and renderer lists.

Which type of light in Unity casts parallel rays and is most suitable for simulating sunlight?

Answer: Directional Light

A Directional Light emits parallel rays from a fixed direction regardless of position, making it ideal for simulating the sun.

What is the purpose of a Reflection Probe in Unity?

Answer: To capture and apply environment reflections to nearby objects

A Reflection Probe captures a 360° image of its surroundings and applies those reflections to objects within its zone of influence.

In Unity, which Shader Graph node outputs the final color of a fragment before it is written to the screen in a PBR workflow?

Answer: Master Stack (Fragment)

In Shader Graph, the Master Stack's Fragment context collects Base Color, Normal, and other PBR inputs and outputs the final shaded pixel.

What does setting a renderer's 'Cast Shadows' property to 'Two Sided' accomplish in Unity?

Answer: It enables shadows from both the front and back faces of the mesh

Two Sided shadow casting causes Unity to render shadows from both the front and back faces of a mesh, preventing gaps in thin geometry like leaves.