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Advancebo
October 3rd, 2009, 02:03 AM
http://www.bungie.net/images/Inside/publications/siggraph/Bungie/SIGGRAPH09_LightingResearch.pptx



Lighting Research at Bungie
Author: Hao Chen, Natalya Tatarchuk

Straight out of Siggraph '09, Hao Chen and Natalya Tartartuk talk shop on lighting research at Bungie. Their presentation focuses on high-quality real time lighting with advanced atmospheric rendering and continuous time of day, as well as efficient prefilterable soft shadows. It also takes a look at fast methods for generation of pre-computed global illumination using modern GPUs.

Bungie Update Post:

float ComputeESM( float2 vShadowMapUVs, float fReceiverDepth,
float fCascadeIndex )
{
// Filtered look up using mip mapping
float fOccluderExponential = tCascadeShadowMaps.Sample(
sShadowLinearClamp,
float3(vShadowMapUVs,fCascadeIndex)).r;
float fReceiverExponential = exp( -fESMExponentialMultiplier *
fReceiverDepth );
float fESMShadowTest = fOccluderExponential * fReceiverExponential;
return saturate(fESMShadowTest);
}

Make any sense to you? Yeah, me neither. Mip Mapping, yo. Mip mapping.

The latest deck to hit our Bungie Publications page is up and ready for public consumption. If you’re way smarter than I am and so totally into graphics engineering, you’re probably gonna absolutely go nuts for this stuff. Otherwise, maybe you should just scan it for the purty pitchurs like I did.

The presentation was put on public display at this year’s Siggraph – an organization set up to create and discuss computer graphics and interactive techniques – and it focuses on the latest directions in lighting research at Bungie. Stuff like high-quality real time lighting with advanced atmospheric rendering and continuous time of day, as well as efficient prefilterable soft shadows. It also explores fast methods for generation of pre-computed global illumination using modern GPUs.

I plagiarized most of the preceding paragraph from the authors' description of the presentation in a sad attempt to make myself seem more smarter. If you want to shed some light on some of the research our graphics engineers are uncovering (see what I did there?), click on the link below and get your learn on.

English Mobster
October 8th, 2009, 03:45 PM
Wait... If I'm looking at this right, does this mean... Real-time lighting changes? Like having the sun set and everything turn to night, GTA-style?

And how many Covenant cruisers will it take to block out the sun?

=sw=warlord
October 8th, 2009, 03:47 PM
Wait... If I'm looking at this right, does this mean... Real-time lighting changes? Like having the sun set and everything turn to night, GTA-style?

And how many Covenant cruisers will it take to block out the sun?
Yes you are reading this correct, a time of day module is put into Halo 3 it seems.

t3h m00kz
October 20th, 2009, 07:25 PM
Speaking of that kind of stuff, back in the Halo 3 Beta it was possible to get a Banshee out of Valhalla, fly over the clouds and eventually get into space and see stars and stuff.

I wouldn't be surprised if they started taking advantage of that kind of stuff soon.

Advancebo
October 20th, 2009, 08:29 PM
Speaking of that kind of stuff, back in the Halo 3 Beta it was possible to get a Banshee out of Valhalla, fly over the clouds and eventually get into space and see stars and stuff.

I wouldn't be surprised if they started taking advantage of that kind of stuff soon.

pancam

Con
October 20th, 2009, 09:32 PM
Bungie has moved away from painted skyboxes. Expect to see proper atmospherics and scattering approximations in their next game.

Cagerrin
October 20th, 2009, 09:36 PM
Speaking of that kind of stuff, back in the Halo 3 Beta it was possible to get a Banshee out of Valhalla, fly over the clouds and eventually get into space and see stars and stuff.

I wouldn't be surprised if they started taking advantage of that kind of stuff soon.
They did already. See the entire drop sequence in ODST.

jcap
October 20th, 2009, 11:14 PM
They did already. See the entire drop sequence in ODST.
Nah, that was different. The drop sequence was compiled of two BSPs. You didn't actually make the drop from space. :(

SMASH
October 21st, 2009, 01:47 PM
That's sick. Though it makes me kind of reconsider my current path a Game Design/Programmer. That shit looks trippy and tough...