Reshade Long Exposure «90% RECOMMENDED»

Subject: ReShade Long Exposure – A Practical Review

What Is It?

“ReShade long exposure” refers to using ReShade’s shaders to simulate the visual effect of a long-exposure photograph (e.g., silky water, light trails, motion-blurred clouds) in a video game or 3D application. Since games render frames sequentially, ReShade cannot truly accumulate light over seconds—instead, it creates the illusion of long exposure using temporal blending.

LumaSharpen.fx (to keep edges sharp while trails blur) reshade long exposure

Enable the Shader: Open your ReShade menu (default Home key) and search for Realistic Long Exposure or Motion Blur shaders. Subject: ReShade Long Exposure – A Practical Review

Set how many frames to average. More frames = smoother movement (better for waterfalls). ISO/Brightness: Enable the Shader : Open your ReShade menu

  1. Cyberpunk 2077: The neon rain and vehicle density make for stunning light trails. (Requires disabling Ray Reconstruction as it conflicts with ReShade add-ons).
  2. Forza Horizon 5: The motion blur vectors are excellent. Use "Shutter Drag" method for drifting smoke.
  3. Horizon Forbidden West: The tall grass and waterfalls respond beautifully to the Accumulator method.
  4. Star Citizen: Capture the vastness of space stations with ship thrusters becoming constant beams.
  5. Assetto Corsa (with mods): The ultimate game for realistic photography. You can simulate 2-second shutter speeds on the Nürburgring.
// 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);