Rendering Techniques sample overview

Updated: May 11, 2026

Overview

This sample demonstrates five advanced rendering techniques optimized for Meta Quest: cascaded shadows, color grading with LUTs, distance field baked shadows, stereoscopic portals, and text rendering with progressive filtering. Each technique is implemented in a dedicated map with interactive elements. This sample requires the Oculus fork of Unreal Engine 5.6 and includes a custom Portals plugin.

View the sample source code on GitHub⁠.

What you will learn

Configure cascaded shadow maps with four cascades and PCF 2x2 filtering for mobile VR

Apply five LUT-based color grading looks using post-process volumes

Encode baked shadows into 8-bit distance fields for sharp shadows at all viewing distances

Render stereoscopic portals using cubemap and per-eye render target approaches

Optimize text rendering with five texture groups and progressive filtering

Requirements

Meta Quest 2, Quest 3, or Quest 3S

Oculus fork of Unreal Engine 5.6

For build setup and configuration, see the sample README⁠.

Get started

Clone or download the sample from the GitHub repository. This sample requires the Oculus fork of Unreal Engine 5.6, not the standard Epic release. Open the project in the Oculus fork of Unreal Engine 5.6. Build and deploy to your Meta Quest device. Each rendering technique is in a separate map — open them individually from the editor or use the in-app menu to navigate between techniques.

Explore the sample

File / Scene	What it demonstrates	Key concepts
CascadedShadows (map)	Four-cascade shadow maps with movable directional light	Cascade distances, PCF 2x2 filtering
ColorGradeMap (map)	Five LUT-based color grading looks	Post-process LUT textures, look switching
DistanceFieldBakedShadows (map)	8-bit encoded baked shadows	Distance field encoding, resolution-independent shadows
PortalsMap (map)	Stereoscopic portals with cubemap and stereo render targets	APortalCaptureActor, per-eye projection
TextRendering (map)	Five texture groups with progressive filtering	Text clarity, mip mapping, texture groups
Portals plugin	Custom plugin for portal rendering	Cubemap capture, stereo render target pipeline

Runtime behavior

Each map runs independently and demonstrates its technique in an interactive environment:

CascadedShadows renders a scene with a movable directional light casting shadows through four cascades. The cascades are tuned for VR viewing distances with PCF 2x2 soft filtering.

ColorGradeMap provides a selector to switch between five pre-authored LUT looks that apply color grading to the entire scene via post-process volumes.

DistanceFieldBakedShadows uses 8-bit encoded distance fields to produce sharp baked shadows that remain crisp regardless of viewing distance, unlike traditional lightmaps.

PortalsMap renders portals using two approaches: cubemap capture (single capture, view-dependent sampling) and stereo render targets (per-eye capture via APortalCaptureActor for correct stereoscopic parallax).

TextRendering displays text using five different texture groups with progressive filtering settings, demonstrating how mip mapping and texture filtering affect text readability in VR.

Key concepts

Cascaded shadow maps for VR

The CascadedShadows map configures four shadow cascades optimized for VR viewing distances:

Cascade 0: Near (0–2m)   → Highest resolution
Cascade 1: Mid  (2–5m)   → Medium resolution
Cascade 2: Far  (5–15m)  → Lower resolution
Cascade 3: Distant (15m+) → Lowest resolution

Filter: PCF 2x2 (Percentage Closer Filtering)
Light Mobility: Movable (dynamic shadows)

Distance field baked shadows

Traditional lightmap shadows become blurry at close range. This technique encodes shadow boundaries as 8-bit distance fields:

Encoding: Shadow distance stored in 8-bit texture channel
Result: Sharp shadow edges at all viewing distances
Cost: Same texture memory as standard lightmaps

Stereoscopic portals

The Portals plugin implements two portal rendering approaches:

Cubemap: Single capture point, sampled based on view direction. Lower cost but lacks stereo parallax.

Stereo render target: APortalCaptureActor renders a separate view per eye with correct inter-pupillary distance, providing accurate stereoscopic depth through the portal.