Bounding volume hierarchy (BVH) widening based on node compressibility

Systems and techniques are provided for widening a hierarchical structure for ray tracing. For instance, a process can include obtaining a plurality of primitives of a scene object included in a first hierarchical acceleration data structure and determining one or more candidate hierarchical acceleration data structures each including the plurality of primitives. A cost metric can be determined for the one or more candidate hierarchical acceleration data structures and, based on the cost metric, a compressibility prediction associated with a candidate hierarchical acceleration data structure of the one or more candidate hierarchical acceleration data structures can be determined. An output hierarchical acceleration data structure can be generated based on the compressibility prediction.