Reflections

[RedMann]

What are the Global and Local Reflections used for and how can I use them in a level?

Just curious

[halzoid]

They're used for reflections in levels (what a surprise! xD)
Water, armour and weapons are usually the main reflective surfaces in levels so it's nice for them to reflect what's around them rather than reflecting the skybox by default.
global reflection, when placed, captures the area around it and projects that as the main reflection for the map, anywhere you go in the map (as long as you're not in a local reflection volume) will use this reflection capture.
using local reflections mean that a second reflection capture is placed and only adds the reflection image it captures to reflective surfaces inside its volume.

You can scale reflection captures to get more or less of an area to be reflected.
If you're making a large open area, it's best to use global reflection capture, whereas if your map has many minor details and constant scenery changes, it might be best to use a few local reflection captures in each area

Steam "internal-testing" branch has added Screen-Space reflections which captures exactly what's on screen and uses that as a reflection, which is very useful.

[merlyn]

I think the reflection capture is also used as a fallback for secondary lighting (if light probes/ambient light volumes aren't present). That's why if you move the "global" reflection capture object, it will also change what the terrain looks like a tiny bit. It should mostly just affect places that are in shadow.

Halzoid's description pretty much covers it from a "what is it good for, and how do I use it" standpoint. If you want to know what they are from a technical standpoint, and exactly why they're used instead of doing "true" reflections, then that's a bit longer. If you're interested, we could get you that info.

[RedMann]

They're used for reflections in levels (what a surprise! xD)
Water, armour and weapons are usually the main reflective surfaces in levels so it's nice for them to reflect what's around them rather than reflecting the skybox by default.
global reflection, when placed, captures the area around it and projects that as the main reflection for the map, anywhere you go in the map (as long as you're not in a local reflection volume) will use this reflection capture.
using local reflections mean that a second reflection capture is placed and only adds the reflection image it captures to reflective surfaces inside its volume.

You can scale reflection captures to get more or less of an area to be reflected.
If you're making a large open area, it's best to use global reflection capture, whereas if your map has many minor details and constant scenery changes, it might be best to use a few local reflection captures in each area

Steam "internal-testing" branch has added Screen-Space reflections which captures exactly what's on screen and uses that as a reflection, which is very useful.

Can I use global reflections to enhance lighting or do they only affect the area they envelope?

[Silverfish]

The global reflection probe affects the lighting in the entire level, except for within the bounds of any local reflection probes. You should only have one global reflection probe in a level.

[RedMann]

The global reflection probe affects the lighting in the entire level, except for within the bounds of any local reflection probes. You should only have one global reflection probe in a level.

Thanks for the info