Native ray tracing operates on the geometry of the game world. It casts rays from the camera (or lights) that interact with 3D meshes and acceleration structures stored in the GPU memory. This allows for accurate reflections and lighting of objects that are not currently visible on the screen.
Conversely, the Reshade RTGI shader operates in the Post-Processing stage. It does not have access to the game's underlying 3D geometry. It only has access to the final 2D image rendered by the game engine. To simulate lighting, it utilizes a technique called Raymarching through the depth buffer.
ReShade is an open-source post-processing injector. Think of it as a universal graphics filter that layers on top of almost any DirectX 9, 10, 11, or 12 game. By default, ReShade adds features like SMAA (anti-aliasing), color grading, and depth-of-field. But its true power lies in custom shaders.
A shader is a piece of code that tells your GPU how to render light, shadows, and color. The "ReShade Ray Tracing Shader" is technically a screen-space ray tracing effect, often abbreviated as RTGI (Ray Traced Global Illumination).
RTGI 0.33 provides a practical, free method to approximate global illumination in real-time via ReShade. While not a replacement for true hardware ray tracing, it delivers meaningful visual improvements when configured carefully and used in compatible titles.
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ReShade RTGI (Ray Traced Global Illumination) shader, specifically version , is a sophisticated post-processing tool created by Pascal Gilcher
(also known as "Marty McFly"). While ReShade itself is free, the RTGI shader is typically distributed through a paid model, though a "free" version of the technology exists in a limited capacity. Key Features of RTGI 0.33
Version 0.33 was a major update released around August 2022. Motion Vectors Support: The standout feature of version 0.33 was the addition of motion vectors
, which significantly improves temporal stability and reduces ghosting during movement. Ray Traced Global Illumination:
Simulates how light bounces off surfaces to illuminate other objects in real-time, providing realistic lighting in games that don't natively support it. Hardware Independency: It operates on depth data Native ray tracing operates on the geometry of
alone, meaning it does not require dedicated NVIDIA RTX hardware to function; it works on almost any modern GPU. Diffuse and Specular Modeling:
Accurately models both diffuse (soft, scattered light) and specular (shiny, reflective) global illumination for improved material realism. Scalable Controls:
Features an intuitive interface with quality presets for both diffuse and specular GI, allowing users to balance visual quality against performance costs. marty's mods "Free" vs. Paid Access Paid Access (Patreon):
To officially download the latest versions of RTGI (including 0.33 and newer), you generally must subscribe to Pascal Gilcher's Patreon ($5/month tier). NVIDIA SSRTGI (Free Alternative): A version of this technology was adopted by NVIDIA as
(Screen Space Ray Traced Global Illumination). It is available for The RTGI (Ray Traced Global Illumination) shader by
through the NVIDIA GeForce Experience "Freestyle" filters for owners of Turing architecture cards and up. Third-Party Presets: Some community-made preset collections like RTShade on GitHub
offer free public ray tracing presets, though these may use alternative shaders rather than the specific proprietary RTGI files. Installation Overview Install ReShade: Download the latest "full add-on support" version from reshade.me Add RTGI Files: Place the downloaded files into the game's reshade-shaders/Shaders Configure Depth Buffer: In-game, ensure the DisplayDepth
shader is correctly configured (depth should appear as a clear grayscale map) for the ray tracing to track 3D objects correctly. for a specific game? ReShade 5.3 and RTGI 0.33 Update | August 2022 14 Aug 2022 —
The RTGI (Ray Traced Global Illumination) shader by developer Pascal Gilcher (alias Marty McFly) is widely considered the "gold standard" for software-based ray tracing in post-processing. Version 0.33 represents a specific, highly stable public release that dramatically enhances lighting in older games or titles lacking native ray tracing support. Unlike the paid Patreon builds, v0.33 is available for free and brings realistic light bouncing and soft shadows to a vast library of games with minimal performance overhead compared to hardware-accelerated ray tracing.