--- title: True Photon-Traced Caustics For Blender's Cycles | daily.dev description: Caustica is a full Blender 5.2 LTS build (not an add-on) created by Henrik Soeltzer that adds true photon-traced caustics to Cycles via a single checkbox in... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/true-photon-traced-caustics-for-blender-s-cycles-tlqekuutk twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: True Photon-Traced Caustics For Blender's Cycles | daily.dev og:description: Caustica is a full Blender 5.2 LTS build (not an add-on) created by Henrik Soeltzer that adds true photon-traced caustics to Cycles via a single checkbox in... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/true-photon-traced-caustics-for-blender-s-cycles-tlqekuutk og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/tlqekUuTk.png og:image:alt: True Photon-Traced Caustics For Blender's Cycles og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # True Photon-Traced Caustics For Blender's Cycles **[80 LEVEL](https://daily.dev/sources/80lv)** · 2 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Caustica is a full Blender 5.2 LTS build (not an add-on) created by Henrik Soeltzer that adds true photon-traced caustics to Cycles via a single checkbox in render settings, while preserving all standard add-ons, shortcuts, and workflows. It uses GPU-based progressive photon mapping, similar to the technique used by production renderers like Corona, to produce physically accurate reflective and refractive caustics without approximations, which is useful for product visualization involving glass, glossy, or metallic materials. It requires Windows and an NVIDIA RTX 2000-series or newer GPU, works only in Cycles (not EEVEE), and currently supports a single GPU, with multi-GPU support planned as a free future update. It is sold as a paid product on the Superhive Market. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How can I get real photon-traced caustics in Blender's Cycles renderer instead of faking them? Caustica, a custom Blender 5.2 LTS build by Henrik Soeltzer, adds true reflective and refractive photon caustics to Cycles through a single checkbox in render settings, without needing external rendering software. It uses GPU-based progressive photon mapping, the same technique used by production renderers like Corona, but runs on the GPU rather than CPU for physically accurate results. _Explore how daily.dev surfaces new rendering tools like this for Blender artists chasing physically accurate visuals._ ### What hardware do I need to run Caustica for Blender caustics rendering? Caustica requires a Windows PC and an NVIDIA RTX 2000-series GPU or newer, since it relies on GPU-accelerated progressive photon mapping. It currently supports only a single GPU at a time; multi-GPU support is in development and will arrive as a free update. It works exclusively in Cycles, not EEVEE. _Follow daily.dev for updates on GPU-dependent rendering tools before committing to hardware._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Create Real-Time Caustics In Blender 5.1](https://daily.dev/posts/create-real-time-caustics-in-blender-5-1-jdklgjck5) · 80 LEVEL · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Free Pro-Quality Underwater Caustics Shader For Blender](https://daily.dev/posts/free-pro-quality-underwater-caustics-shader-for-blender-p7abw5i66) · 80 LEVEL · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Blender 5.1 Released With Raycast Nodes, AMD GPU Ray-Tracing By Default](https://daily.dev/posts/blender-5-1-released-with-raycast-nodes-amd-gpu-ray-tracing-by-default-elmjtfqqz) · Phoronix · 3 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#3d](https://daily.dev/tags/3d), [#gpu](https://daily.dev/tags/gpu), [#blender](https://daily.dev/tags/blender) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/true-photon-traced-caustics-for-blender-s-cycles-tlqekuutk) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"True Photon-Traced Caustics For Blender's Cycles","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/true-photon-traced-caustics-for-blender-s-cycles-tlqekuutk","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/true-photon-traced-caustics-for-blender-s-cycles-tlqekuutk"},"datePublished":"2026-09-11T16:03:54.893Z","dateModified":"2026-10-15T02:22:55.082Z","description":"Caustica is a full Blender 5.2 LTS build (not an add-on) created by Henrik Soeltzer that adds true photon-traced caustics to Cycles via a single checkbox in...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/f3414fb48c259e9629dc4d5d8e4cacab?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/f3414fb48c259e9629dc4d5d8e4cacab?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"80 LEVEL","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"80 LEVEL","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/78eebcd76c154e6bbfd565fed7dc4093","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/80lv"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/true-photon-traced-caustics-for-blender-s-cycles-tlqekuutk","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"3d,gpu,blender","timeRequired":"PT2M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"80 LEVEL","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/80lv"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"True Photon-Traced Caustics For Blender's Cycles"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/true-photon-traced-caustics-for-blender-s-cycles-tlqekuutk#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How can I get real photon-traced caustics in Blender's Cycles renderer instead of faking them?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Caustica, a custom Blender 5.2 LTS build by Henrik Soeltzer, adds true reflective and refractive photon caustics to Cycles through a single checkbox in render settings, without needing external rendering software. It uses GPU-based progressive photon mapping, the same technique used by production renderers like Corona, but runs on the GPU rather than CPU for physically accurate results. Explore how daily.dev surfaces new rendering tools like this for Blender artists chasing physically accurate visuals."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What hardware do I need to run Caustica for Blender caustics rendering?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Caustica requires a Windows PC and an NVIDIA RTX 2000-series GPU or newer, since it relies on GPU-accelerated progressive photon mapping. It currently supports only a single GPU at a time; multi-GPU support is in development and will arrive as a free update. It works exclusively in Cycles, not EEVEE. Follow daily.dev for updates on GPU-dependent rendering tools before committing to hardware."}}]} ```