how to create light blooms?

[UltraProAnti]

Search didn't get me anywhere, and none of the lighting tutes I've found so far cover this.

Which entity is it that allows you to create light blooms (i.e. around ordinary prop_static lighting fixtures)? Anyone?

 

[PvtRyan]

env_sprite, set its render mode to world space glow or something like that.

env_sun (for the sun in the sky) also has a blooming effect.

 

[thereisaspoon]

wait for the hdr lighting to come out for real light blooming, not sprite garbage.

 

[Pi Mu Rho]

even when HDR is available, you're going to need a low-spec fallback for those with lower-end machines.

 

[UltraProAnti]

env_sprite, set its render mode to world space glow or something like that.

env_sun (for the sun in the sky) also has a blooming effect.

That's the one. Thx.

wait for the hdr lighting to come out for real light blooming, not sprite garbage.

1) No thanks
2) "Come out" of where? I know what HDR is, but are you referring to hardware, HL2 upgrade, what?
3) Pi Mu Rho is correct. Sprites will be around for a while yet, and they don't look terrible. My biggest issue with RGB is clear sky banding, and the way even the skies in HL2 get slightly posterised by the 'rounding up/down' involved in RGB.

 

[Fletch]

Valve are going to update the source engine soon to incorporate true HDR http://www.daionet.gr.jp/~masa/rthdribl/index.html, not the feigned type thats in source atm.

There are going to be a few demo levels too, you should play these and consider it.

 

[The Dark Elf]

Valve are going to update the source engine soon to incorporate true HDR http://www.daionet.gr.jp/~masa/rthdribl/index.html, not the feigned type thats in source atm.

There are going to be a few demo levels too, you should play these and consider it.

It would IMO still be wise to use the cheat bloom effect though thats currently available in it, simply for optimizing maps, often you wont want to use HDR effects because of the slowdown it'll cause, and the cheap effect is probably more controllable. not only that but some mod teams might wish to cater for none DX9 users, so having the cheaper effect in there for some cases would be nice.

 

[Uni-Ball]

agreed, HDR is nice for single player but prolly unplayable online

 

[thereisaspoon]

we'll have to wait and see, since there arent any released games with hdr to my knowledge

 

[Fletch]

cry engine v1.3 (far cry), has HDR. its slightly over the top imo, and thats what i liked about valve, they incorportate effects subtly into HL2 which produced much better results.

Here are some screens, but must be seen in motion to be appreciated fully. http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/far_cry_1.3/

Turning these effects on can more than halve my framerates.

 

[Limpet]

I dont understand the added benefits of HDR, all it does is make light brighter, or am i wrong?

 

[thereisaspoon]

no it has realistic blooming, like if ur in a dark place and u look across a hall and its all bright there there will be blooming, or if a model is close to a light it will bloom depending on how intense the light is.

http://www.unrealtechnology.com/html/technology/ue30.shtml
ue3 has real hdr. Check out the screens, its all real-time.

 

[Limpet]

Ah I see, thank you

 

[Ti133700N]

Also, as you can clearly see on those pics, HDR recreate the effet you see when you look at a bright light source ( look at the smooth, dim blue on the border of the cavern) without HDR the light cuts right at the beginning of the cavern, there is no progressive attenuation of this bright light.

http://www.firingsquad.com/media/article_image.asp?fs_article_id=1573&pic_id=11
http://www.firingsquad.com/media/article_image.asp?fs_article_id=1573&pic_id=12

 

[FireCrack]

Alot of you guys are getting HDR and blooming mixed up. Blooming is the "leaking light" thing. HDR is a method in wich colrs may be brighter than 100% white, this can be used to create ultra bright light sorces for use with blooms, or for exposure changing effects.

 

[Ti133700N]

I know blooming and lensflare can be easily done without HDR but I didn't think this kind of bloom could be done without HDR. I've never seen it in a game. Can you post screenshots of it to show me the difference between blooming with HDR and without, please?

 

[thereisaspoon]

i'm not sure if u can create realistic blooming without hdr. However, there is another method of creating blooms that games such as guild wars uses. The guild wars method involves taking a screenshots of the game every frame, applying a filter that will scale them or blur them (like a gaussian blur), maybe change brightness and reapplying them with a blend mode. This will create blooms on everything and will have the same fps impact everywhere.

 

[CREMATOR666]

I think Chronicles of Riddick : EBB also have HDR. Nice lighting and normal-mapping too, that game. :thumbs:

 

[The Dark Elf]

i'm not sure if u can create realistic blooming without hdr. However, there is another method of creating blooms that games such as guild wars uses. The guild wars method involves taking a screenshots of the game every frame, applying a filter that will scale them or blur them (like a gaussian blur), maybe change brightness and reapplying them with a blend mode. This will create blooms on everything and will have the same fps impact everywhere.

problem with that method is its an LDR method, so a white pixel of a wall will appear to glow just as much as a white pixel of a sun.

 

[thereisaspoon]

yea, but compared to hdr the fps loss is minimal for a relativley good effect