Probes
ProbesLighting probes store samples of the scene's baked illumination throughout a three-dimensional region. At runtime, a receiver samples nearby probes and interpolates their lighting rather than reading a unique lightmap on its own surface. This makes the field useful for objects without surface lightmaps and for integrations that need illumination in space, including fog and indirect capsule shadows.
A probe field approximates how lighting changes between its samples. Denser placement can describe smaller changes, but uses more memory and bake work. Interpolation can smooth the existing field; it cannot restore information that was never captured or make a baked field respond to a moved light automatically.
Features > Probes controls sampling. Global probe display and marker size now live in Visualize. The scene object's density, bounds, overlaps, and movement are documented under Spectral Probe Volume.
Interpolation belongs to the level. It changes how existing data is sampled, so it does not require a rebake. Save the level to keep it. Visualization preferences are project-wide and are not part of an imported level setup.
Interpolation
Default: Bilinear. Choices: Bilinear, Bicubic (Higher Quality).
Selects the interpolation used between stored probe samples. Bilinear is the default, cheaper path. Bicubic uses the higher-quality interpolation path to smooth transitions through the sampled field.
Interpolation changes the result between existing samples. It cannot recover an important lighting change that the grid never captured. If lighting crosses a thin wall incorrectly, inspect volume placement and Voxel Size before relying on interpolation alone.
Visualize Global Probes
Default: disabled.
This control has moved out of Features > Probes. Use Visualize > Visualize Global Probes to show markers across the scene and inspect coverage and captured lighting. See the Visualize reference.
It does not enable probe lighting itself, add missing samples, or start a bake. Per-volume visualization is a separate control on the selected volume.
Global Visualization Scale
This control now lives under Visualize > Volume Visualizations. It is available independently of the global display toggle and is saved per project. See Global Visualization Scale for its range and behavior.
Changes marker size. Increase it if individual markers are hard to inspect, or decrease it when a dense field is obscured by overlapping markers. It does not change grid spacing, memory use of the baked field, or lighting intensity.
Which changes require a bake?
| Change | Rebuild lighting? |
|---|---|
| Interpolation or marker display | No |
| Probe volume bounds or Voxel Size | Yes |
| Scene lighting that should appear in probes | Yes |
| Baker's Direct or Indirect Lighting Contrast | Yes |
| Moving an already baked movable field at runtime | No new capture; the stored field moves with it |
BakerA movable field carries its baked lighting. It does not recalculate illumination from a new room or from lights moved after the bake.
Use Probe material nodes for explicit material sampling. The probe-lighting workflow covers setup order.