07-04-2019, 11:09 AM
Unity Removing Enlighten Support
<div><p>In a Unity blog post today, Unity announced that Enlighten support was being removed from the Unity game engine. Enlighten is the lightmapping and global illumination solution used in Unity since Unity 5 was released. Enlighten was original developed by Geomerics, which <a href="https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1320386#">was acquired by ARM technologies in 2013</a>, then the technology was sold to <a href="https://www.siliconstudio.co.jp/en/">Silicon Studio</a> in 2017.</p>
<p>Details of the removal <a href="https://blogs.unity3d.com/2019/07/03/enlighten-will-be-replaced-with-a-robust-solution-for-baked-and-real-time-giobal-illumination/">on the Unity blog</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Due to Geomerics shutting down Enlighten as a product, Unity is required to remove Enlighten.</p>
<p>Unity will continue support for Enlighten in the <a href="https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/SL-RenderPipeline.html">built-in renderer</a> as it currently exists today (as-is, with no new platform support). The 2020 LTS will be the last version to contain Enlighten functionality for the <a href="https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/SL-RenderPipeline.html">built-in renderer</a>, and it is fully removed in 2021.1.</p>
<p>Projects authored with <a href="https://docs.unity3d.com/Packages/[email protected]/manual/index.html">HDRP</a> Preview Enlighten functionality will continue to be supported as it currently exists today (as-is, with no new platform support) in 2019 LTS, with full removal of Enlighten functionality from <a href="https://docs.unity3d.com/Packages/[email protected]/manual/index.html">HDRP</a> in 2020.1.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>They are working on a solution:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We are also fully committed to delivering a real-time GI replacement solution in 2021.1. The Unity team has a solid plan to solve this complex problem the right way, with great artists workflow and optimal runtime performance for 2021.1.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Additionally, in the <a href="https://forum.unity.com/threads/enlighten-deprecation-and-replacement-solution.697778/">linked forum discussion</a> are some good details on the limitations of the current Enlighten solution that will be addressed in their new in-house solution:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Enlighten has had a good run for the money, some of the best looking titles have shipped using it. However, some of the underlying principles means that it is not a good fit moving forward.<br />Enlighten is largely surface based, requires a global pre-computation phase and is limited to diffuse transport with no real support for physically based non-opaque materials. Some of the drivers moving forward are:</p>
<ul>
<li><b>Fast iteration</b>: <i>Time-to-first-pixel</i> needs to be fast, cannot have a lengthy pre-compute step. </li>
<li><b>Easy authoring</b>: We need to remove the dependency on authoring suitable UVs and other surface based authoring. </li>
<li><b>Dynamic worlds</b>: In addition to dynamic materials and lighting setup, we have to support <i>dynamic geometry</i> (eg. for procedural games). </li>
<li><b>Unified lighting</b>: The lighting container needs to be decoupled from surfaces. This allows all scene elements to use the same lighting including volumetrics and participating media. </li>
<li><b>Large worlds</b>: Due to the sheer size of levels today we need an easy way to to do localized light transport where <i>what is lit</i> and <i>what is affecting that lighting</i> is decoupled. </li>
<li><b>Source access</b>: We need to have full access to all source in-house. So that we can independently drive development forward, fix bugs and support future platforms. This is arguably the most important point. </li>
</ul>
<p>For these reasons we have decided that the best course of action is to no longer pursue software we have limited control over and move on.<br />That said the feature set that is available now will be supported until 2023 (via 2020 LTS), and we are happy to support you in the transition. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>I’m still not entirely certain what they mean by Geomerics shutting down however, as it’s resources were sold way back in 2017 and everything seems to be business as usual.</p>
<p align="center"><iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='853' height='480' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/l76o54AtrKI?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;'></iframe></p>
<p class="under"> <span class="categories"><a href="https://www.gamefromscratch.com/category/GameDev-News.aspx">GameDev News</a></span> <span class="tags"><a href="https://www.gamefromscratch.com/?tag=/Unity" rel="tag">Unity</a></span> </p>
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<div><p>In a Unity blog post today, Unity announced that Enlighten support was being removed from the Unity game engine. Enlighten is the lightmapping and global illumination solution used in Unity since Unity 5 was released. Enlighten was original developed by Geomerics, which <a href="https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1320386#">was acquired by ARM technologies in 2013</a>, then the technology was sold to <a href="https://www.siliconstudio.co.jp/en/">Silicon Studio</a> in 2017.</p>
<p>Details of the removal <a href="https://blogs.unity3d.com/2019/07/03/enlighten-will-be-replaced-with-a-robust-solution-for-baked-and-real-time-giobal-illumination/">on the Unity blog</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Due to Geomerics shutting down Enlighten as a product, Unity is required to remove Enlighten.</p>
<p>Unity will continue support for Enlighten in the <a href="https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/SL-RenderPipeline.html">built-in renderer</a> as it currently exists today (as-is, with no new platform support). The 2020 LTS will be the last version to contain Enlighten functionality for the <a href="https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/SL-RenderPipeline.html">built-in renderer</a>, and it is fully removed in 2021.1.</p>
<p>Projects authored with <a href="https://docs.unity3d.com/Packages/[email protected]/manual/index.html">HDRP</a> Preview Enlighten functionality will continue to be supported as it currently exists today (as-is, with no new platform support) in 2019 LTS, with full removal of Enlighten functionality from <a href="https://docs.unity3d.com/Packages/[email protected]/manual/index.html">HDRP</a> in 2020.1.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>They are working on a solution:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We are also fully committed to delivering a real-time GI replacement solution in 2021.1. The Unity team has a solid plan to solve this complex problem the right way, with great artists workflow and optimal runtime performance for 2021.1.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Additionally, in the <a href="https://forum.unity.com/threads/enlighten-deprecation-and-replacement-solution.697778/">linked forum discussion</a> are some good details on the limitations of the current Enlighten solution that will be addressed in their new in-house solution:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Enlighten has had a good run for the money, some of the best looking titles have shipped using it. However, some of the underlying principles means that it is not a good fit moving forward.<br />Enlighten is largely surface based, requires a global pre-computation phase and is limited to diffuse transport with no real support for physically based non-opaque materials. Some of the drivers moving forward are:</p>
<ul>
<li><b>Fast iteration</b>: <i>Time-to-first-pixel</i> needs to be fast, cannot have a lengthy pre-compute step. </li>
<li><b>Easy authoring</b>: We need to remove the dependency on authoring suitable UVs and other surface based authoring. </li>
<li><b>Dynamic worlds</b>: In addition to dynamic materials and lighting setup, we have to support <i>dynamic geometry</i> (eg. for procedural games). </li>
<li><b>Unified lighting</b>: The lighting container needs to be decoupled from surfaces. This allows all scene elements to use the same lighting including volumetrics and participating media. </li>
<li><b>Large worlds</b>: Due to the sheer size of levels today we need an easy way to to do localized light transport where <i>what is lit</i> and <i>what is affecting that lighting</i> is decoupled. </li>
<li><b>Source access</b>: We need to have full access to all source in-house. So that we can independently drive development forward, fix bugs and support future platforms. This is arguably the most important point. </li>
</ul>
<p>For these reasons we have decided that the best course of action is to no longer pursue software we have limited control over and move on.<br />That said the feature set that is available now will be supported until 2023 (via 2020 LTS), and we are happy to support you in the transition. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>I’m still not entirely certain what they mean by Geomerics shutting down however, as it’s resources were sold way back in 2017 and everything seems to be business as usual.</p>
<p align="center"><iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='853' height='480' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/l76o54AtrKI?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;'></iframe></p>
<p class="under"> <span class="categories"><a href="https://www.gamefromscratch.com/category/GameDev-News.aspx">GameDev News</a></span> <span class="tags"><a href="https://www.gamefromscratch.com/?tag=/Unity" rel="tag">Unity</a></span> </p>
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