Reflection Probes in Unity: Quick Guide

Reflection Probes in Unity are used to improve the realism of reflective materials by providing accurate environmental reflections. They capture a spherical view of their surroundings and store it as a Cubemap, which reflective materials use to simulate reflections on surfaces such as metal, glass, and polished floors.

To create a Reflection Probe, use the top menu in Unity and navigate to GameObject → Light → Reflection Probe. Once added, position the probe in the scene and adjust its Bounding Volume to define the area it affects. Objects inside this volume will use the reflection data captured by the probe, allowing reflections to better match the local environment.

Unity provides three Reflection Probe modes. Baked mode captures static reflections during the baking process and is ideal for scenes with fixed lighting and geometry. Custom mode allows you to manually assign a Cubemap for specific artistic or technical needs. Realtime mode updates reflections at runtime and can reflect moving objects, but it has a high performance cost and should be used only when necessary.

Reflection Probes are not only useful for realism but can also help fix visual issues. In some cases, reflections may appear incorrect or broken in the Scene View or Game View due to missing reflection data. Properly placing Reflection Probes often improves how materials look and helps stabilize the overall scene appearance.

In short, Reflection Probes are an essential tool for achieving believable reflections while maintaining good performance in Unity.