by Jas9r·Rendering
Illustrative cover generated by AnyPlugins — no product screenshot available.
Earns its place in the superhive library by tackling a specific EEVEE Next problem, objects that look floaty with Ray Tracing (AO), and applying a grounded ambient occlusion shader across every material at once.
Global Ambient Occlusion Shader, or Global AO, is a Blender addon by Jas9r that adds an ambient occlusion shader to all materials in a project. It was created to address a common issue with Ray Tracing (AO) in EEVEE Next, where objects often appear floaty or ungrounded regardless of the settings. The addon aims for ambient occlusion similar to the previous EEVEE version, giving a more grounded look and greater control over AO strength.
Rather than adding AO shaders to every material by hand, Global AO applies the shader automatically. You can add it to all materials in the scene or only to the materials of selected objects, and remove it at any time with a single click. There's also an option to add a material to objects without material slots, plus a debug mode.
The interface sits in the N-Panel, where you can adjust the strength, number of samples, and distance settings. Global AO is designed for Blender 4.2 and above and is especially useful in the EEVEE Next render engine.
Global Ambient Occlusion Shader is best for blender artists working in EEVEE Next who want to eliminate the floating-objects effect across many materials without adding ambient occlusion shaders by hand.
Global Ambient Occlusion Shader is completely free to download and use.
Global Ambient Occlusion Shader requires Blender 4.2.1 and above, and its listed Blender range runs from 4.2 to 5.1. It is designed for Blender 4.2 and above and is especially useful in the EEVEE Next render engine, where it was built to address the floaty, ungrounded look objects can take on with Ray Tracing (AO). If your version falls within that range, the addon should install and run as intended, and the developer's documentation covers setup details.
Global Ambient Occlusion Shader can add its shader to every material in your scene at once, or you can choose to apply it only to the materials of selected objects. There's also an option to add a material to objects that have no material slots, so those objects can receive the effect too. If you change your mind, you can remove the shader at any time with a single click, and a debug mode is available while you work.
Global Ambient Occlusion Shader places its interface in Blender's N-Panel. From there you can adjust the strength, the number of samples, and the distance settings to suit your project. These controls give you greater control over AO strength, helping you reach an ambient occlusion look closer to the previous EEVEE version rather than relying on the default Ray Tracing (AO) in EEVEE Next. The developer also provides documentation covering the addon in more detail.
Global Ambient Occlusion Shader is listed as free in this catalog and is distributed under the GPL license. Licensing terms can change over time, so for the current details and any updates it's best to check the developer's page directly. The addon is published by Jas9r, who also offers other products, and documentation is available to help you get started once you've added it to Blender 4.2.1 or later.
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