This patch optimises subsurface intersection queries on MetalRT. Currently intersect_local traverses from the scene root, retrospectively discarding all non-local hits. Using a lookup of bottom level acceleration structures, we can explicitly query only the relevant instance. On M1 Max, with MetalRT selected, this can give a render speedup of 15-20% for scenes like Monster which make heavy use of subsurface scattering.
Patch authored by Marco Giordano.
Reviewed By: brecht
Differential Revision: https://developer.blender.org/D17153