Rasterisation
Forward and deferred paths, visibility buffers, geometry and culling, material shading, shadows, transparency and post-processing. Traditional raster techniques remain an important part of the design space.
Explore the researchTraverse Games
Rendering and graphics
We research, invent, publish and implement rendering techniques, matching your visual direction, target platforms and performance budgets. This is the work we are known for.
Research. Invention. Implementation.
Rendering expertise for rendering experts.
We pioneer rendering techniques, develop new approaches, publish the research and build the implementations. Our engineers work across traditional rasterisation, ray tracing and neural rendering, from the algorithm and representation to the shader, renderer and content pipeline.
Our public work includes NeuBTF, an analytical Fresnel model for coated materials, and mobile neural radiance caching with Samsung. For your graphics team, that means specialists who can investigate a difficult idea, challenge an implementation assumption and carry a technique into working software.
Explore our papers, chapters and talks
Across the rendering stack
Raster, ray tracing and neural. Built for the job.
Ray tracing & path tracing
Light transport, global illumination, reflections, shadows and volumetrics. Sampling, acceleration structures, reuse and denoising connect the desired result to its execution cost, from reference renderers to real-time paths.
Explore the researchNeural rendering
Neural radiance caching, texture compression, learned materials and reconstruction. We investigate the representation and its training or inference path, including the resource flow needed to run it inside a renderer.
Explore the researchThe right image is the one your game needs.
A distinctive non-photorealistic rendering (NPR) style, a convincing photoreal world, a reference path tracer for comparisons, or something deliberately game-y are all valid starting points. We work with your art and technical leads to define the image, the behaviour in motion and the controls your artists need.
That can mean physically based light transport and materials, or intentionally non-physical shading, lighting and compositing. We choose and develop techniques around the visual direction. A reference path tracer can also give your team a baseline for understanding approximations in the real-time renderer.
- NPR & stylised
Art-directed light, shape and surface response.
- Photoreal
Physically based materials and light transport.
- Reference path tracing
A baseline for evaluating approximations.
- Deliberately game-y
Rendering built around readability and creative intent.
Your budgets set the design.
You define the target hardware, frame-time and memory budgets, and the quality the game needs to maintain. We evaluate CPU and GPU cost, bandwidth, sustained power where relevant, and the asset and authoring requirements alongside the image.
The implementation can be raster, ray traced, neural or a combination. We test the trade-offs in representative scenes, including motion, disocclusion, content variation and difficult lighting. Quality tiers and platform-specific paths are designed against the targets your team agrees, with the result measured in your build.
How we measure performance and trade-offs- Frame time
- CPU and GPU budgets on the target hardware.
- Memory & bandwidth
- Representation size, data access and streaming cost.
- Power
- Sustained device behaviour where it matters.
- Image quality
- The reference, motion stability and acceptable trade-offs.
- Content workflow
- Artist controls, asset preparation and iteration cost.
- Platform tiers
- Agreed capabilities and quality levels across targets.
Built for the platforms your game ships on.
We work across console, PC, handheld and mobile, using the graphics APIs and capabilities available on each target. That includes DirectX 12, Vulkan, Metal and console backends, with differences in resource binding, synchronisation, shader compilation and hardware execution handled in the implementation.
We can build within a proprietary renderer or a customised Unreal branch. Your team keeps ownership of the engine, the visual direction and the production pipeline. We deliver reviewable code, working builds and the context needed to maintain and extend the technique.
Our platform and engine integration workConsoles
- PS4
- PS5
- Xbox
- Nintendo Switch
Desktop & handheld
- Windows
- Linux
- SteamOS
- Bazzite
- macOS
Mobile
- Android
- iOS
Graphics APIs
- Metal
- Vulkan
- DirectX 12
- AGC
Bring us the visual target and the hard part
Tell us which image or behaviour you need, what your renderer does today, and where the current approach runs out of quality, performance or flexibility. A representative build and reference scenes help us frame the investigation with your rendering and art leads.
We can take ownership of a focused feature, prototype a new approach, or work alongside your graphics engineers on a broader rendering workstream. Research, implementation and review stay connected throughout the engagement.
What your team receives
- A working prototype and evidence for the chosen technique and trade-offs.
- Production integration in the agreed renderer and engine branch.
- Image and performance comparisons under recorded conditions on the target hardware.
- Content requirements, authoring controls, known limitations and maintenance notes.
Your technical leads work directly with the people designing and implementing the rendering work. The roadmap and build reviews follow your production priorities.
A few useful answers.
Can you develop a technique that is not already in our engine?
Yes. We can investigate, prototype and develop new rendering approaches, drawing on our own research and the wider literature. We agree the visual target, resource budgets and review criteria with your team, then test the implementation in your project.
Do you work on stylised and non-photorealistic games?
Yes. NPR, stylised lighting and deliberately game-like shading are part of the scope we can work on. Your art direction determines the target, including how the image responds to animation, lighting changes and player interaction.
Can you build a reference path tracer as well as a real-time effect?
Yes. We can scope a reference renderer for comparisons or a production rendering path. The quality, performance and integration requirements are agreed separately for the intended use.
Do you implement techniques in our renderer?
Yes. Integration with your renderer and content pipeline is defined during the prototype phase.
Can research lead into production work?
Yes. Research and Games are labels within Traverse, allowing an investigation to inform a scoped production implementation.
How do you handle visual trade-offs?
We review image quality against the agreed reference and resource budget with your technical and art leads.
Traverse Research + Traverse Games