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Virtual Dictionary

Depth Pass

Depth Pass, also known as Depth Map, Depth Buffering, or Z-Depth, is one possible layer of a multi-layered render pass. It is a specialised pass, intended to make subsequent passes less computationally expensive, and so is one of the first passes made in a render.

It works by scanning through the visible scene (or the whole scene in some cases) and stores the vertex locations of all objects relative to distance from the user, so that calculations such as occlusion or Z-fighting can be worked out as early as possible. It provides this spatial information to all further render passes.

If speed is of the essence, a depth map is pre-made as a compiled lookup table separate to the rendering process. However, this type of depth map is often slow to change, and so difficult to integrate into a dynamic, changing environment. It is most frequently used in static environments such as gameworlds and medical VRs, as opposed to social virtual reality applications.

See Also: Z-fighting, Irregular Z-buffer, Z-buffer, Depth Perception, Depth Fog, Depth of Field, Depth Blur, Z-culling, Z-buffering, Z-Sorting, Depth Cues, Render Pass


Related Dictionary Entries for Depth Pass:

Beauty Pass

Colour Pass

Depth Map

Depth Pass

Diffuse Pass

Highlight Pass

Lighting Pass

Reflection Pass

Shadow Pass

Specular Pass



Resources in our database matching the Term Depth Pass:


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Six ways to build robots that do humans no harm

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AI researchers believe 'Rascals' can pass Turing test

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Cranial Nerves

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A Sterile World


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I 0Wn Y0u, d0Od! Part Deux
A detailed, in-depth look at why selling content from within MMOs, to others can damage the business on the company in question, by looking at the effect it has on the costs of the MMO.

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Unicorns: The Unicorn's Meadow
A great little site, going into depth abut the unicorn. Well worth a look.

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Role-Play vs. Multi-play
An argument that playing multiple characters or alts on a roleplaying world, decreases the ability to roleplay in any depth. Well reasoned.

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Losing Players to Responsibility
A short, poignant article on the effects in any game or social VR environment where an individual from the userbase shows promise, and is given more and more responsibility until they feel they are completely out of their depth.


Industry News containing the Term Depth Pass:

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However, Nathan Jacobs and colleagues at Washington Univers...


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Because the d...