Reshade Long Exposure -

Here is the exact workflow I use to capture award-winning long exposure screenshots in Cyberpunk 2077, Forza Horizon 5, or The Witcher 3.

The Goal: Capture a speeding motorcycle at night with light trails.

Step 1: Setup the Scene

Step 2: Spawn the Motion

Step 3: Configure ReShade (The Magic)

Step 4: Wait for the Build

Step 5: The "Clean Frame"

The most direct method uses a custom ReShade shader that reads the previous frame buffer and blends it with the current frame.

Formula: [ Output = (Current \times \alpha) + (Previous \times (1 - \alpha)) ] where (\alpha) is a small weight (e.g., 0.1) and the process repeats recursively over dozens of frames. reshade long exposure

Implementation in ReShade (Pseudo-HLSL):

// Custom shader technique
float blendFactor = 0.05; // 5% new frame, 95% old accumulation
float4 curr = tex2D(ReShade::BackBuffer, texcoord);
float4 prev = tex2D(prevFrameBuffer, texcoord);
return lerp(prev, curr, blendFactor);

ReShade long exposure is notoriously finicky. Here is how to fix the three biggest issues.

Tips and Variations

Common Issues and Solutions

Conclusion

ReShade Long Exposure is a powerful technique for creating stunning, dreamy images. By following this guide, you can achieve professional-looking results using a combination of short exposure shots and post-processing with ReShade. Experiment with different settings and techniques to create unique effects and take your photography to the next level.

Traditional long exposure photography captures light over a prolonged period (seconds to minutes), producing effects such as light trails, silky water, and motion blur. In real-time rendering (video games), this effect cannot be achieved by simply slowing the shutter due to the discrete, variable frame rate. This paper examines the use of ReShade, an open-source post-processing injector, to computationally approximate long exposure via frame accumulation techniques. We analyze the implementation, performance costs, visual artifacts, and practical applications in interactive media.

Once installed, open the ReShade overlay (default key: Home). Navigate to the "Add-ons" tab. This is where Temporal effects live, separate from the standard "Home" tab. Here is the exact workflow I use to

A more sophisticated approach uses ReShade's depth buffer and manual motion vector estimation (via screen-space changes). This involves: