Visual effects (VFX) are one of the most complicated components of feature film and television creation. With advancements in such technologies as Ray Tracing and Virtual Reality, the visual quality of the real-time rendering engine is now rivaling feature film. Real-time rendering requires years of programming experience with advanced understanding in math and physics.
As the power of the real-time rendering engine improves, so too do the interfaces for VFX creation. With limited technical understanding, artists can create VFX with the push of a button and tug of a slider. As powerful as the interfaces are, they can only expose a portion of the true potential of the rendering engine. Artists are limited by their understanding of the engine interface. Real Time Visual Effects for the Technical Artist is written for digital artists to explain the core concepts of VFX, common in all engines, to free them from interface bounds.
Features:
- Introduces the reader to the technical aspects of real-time VFX
- Built upon a career of more than 20 years in the feature film VFX and the real-time video game industries and tested on graduate and undergraduate students
- Explores all real-time VFX in four categories: in-camera effects, in-material effects, simulations, and particles
This book is written to complement undergraduate- or graduate-level courses focused on the fundamentals of modern real-time VFX.
Chris Roda is a Technical Art instructor at the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (FIEA), a graduate degree program in interactive, real-time application development at the University of Central Florida. Early in his career, Chris was a visual effects artist in the film and television industries where he contributed visual effects for films such as Spider-Man, Titanic, and The Fifth Element. Before coming to FIEA, Chris was a CG Supervisor at Electronic Arts, where he worked on video game titles such as NCAA Football and Madden NFL Football. In addition to teaching, Chris works on generating tools and pipelines for the creation of immersive experiences: the amalgamation of the narrative of films, the interactivity of video games, and the immersion of theme parks.
Author(s): Chris Roda
Publisher: CRC Press
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 390
City: Boca Raton
Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Author
Introduction
Why This Book?
Intended Audience
Visual Effects Artists versus Technical Artists
How This Book Is Organized
Conventions
Experiences
Story Worlds
Art Directable
Users
Software Disclaimer
Prerequisites
Chapter 1: What Are Visual Effects?
Introduction
Visual Effects Are Animations
Special Effects
Off-Line Visual Effects
Real-Time Visual Effects
Drawbacks of Real-Time Visual Effects
Real-Time Uses
Video Games
Live-Action Production
Cinematics
Simulation
Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), Mixed Reality (MR), and Cross Reality (XR)
Architecture
Automotive/Transportation
Scientific Visualization
Location-Based Experiences
Real-Time Visual Effect Types
In-Camera Effects
Material Effects
Simulations
Particles
Conclusions
Chapter 2: Visual Effects Rules
Introduction
Visual Effects Are Not the Story
Visual Effects Add Credibility
Visual Effects Are the Glue
Visual Effects Help Story Flow
Never Show VFX Out of Context
Scale Is King!
Visual Effects Don’t Scale
Lighting Integration Is Queen
Whites and Blacks
Style Consistency
Visual References
Missing VFX
Never Duplicate VFX
Never Take from Tutorials
Never Start from Scratch
VFX Toolkit
Visual Effects Layers
Students of Animation
Be a Magician
Simulation
Simulations Consume Careers
Hyper-Reality
Tease the Audience!
Iterate!
No Roadblocks
Art before Technology
Visual Integrity
Conclusion
Chapter 3: Color Theory
Introduction
Color in Reality
Representation of Color
RGB Color
CMYK Color
HSV and HSL Color
Other Color Models
Gamut
Is “Photo-Real” Achievable?
Linear Color
Gamma versus Linear Color
Calibration
Basic Color Blending
Addition (Color Sum)
Subtraction
Multiplication (Color Product)
Division (Color Difference)
Power
Dodge
Screen
Color Dodge
Linear Dodge
Burn
Multiply
Color Burn
Linear Burn
Conclusion
Chapter 4: In-Camera Effects
Introduction
Real-Time Rendering Pipeline
Input Assembler
Vertex Shader
Tessellation Stage
Geometry Shader
Rasterizer
Pixel/Fragment Shader
Layer Blending Stage
Real-Time Transparency and Blending
Alpha Blending
Additive Blending
Multiplicative Blending
Divisional Blending
Alpha Testing
Inside Blending
Outside Blending
Ray Tracing
Ray-Tracing Pipeline
Ray Generation Stage
Ray Traversal Stage
Intersection Stage
Shading Stage
Ray Tracing Shader Pipeline
Raygen Shader
Intersection Shader
Closest Hit Shader
Any Hit Shader
Miss Shader
Lighting and Lighting VFX
Lighting to Move Story and Gameplay
Lighting to Manipulate Shadows
Lights to Interact with Characters and Environments
Types of Lights
Skylight
Directional Lights
Point Light
Spotlights
Area Lights
Lighting Strategies
Key Light
Fill Light
Rim Light
Other Lighting Strategies
Post-Processing
Render Target
Eye Adaption
Color Filtering
Tone Mapping
Color Grading
Look Up Tables (LUTS)
Image Blurring Techniques
Image Blurring
Bloom
Depth of Field
Lens Flare
Emissive Materials
In-Camera Techniques
Vignetting
Chromatic Aberration
Distortion
Pixelization
Dithering
Edge Detection/Sobel Operator
Conclusion
Chapter 5: Material Effects
Introduction
Material Pipeline
Shading Paradigms
Old School Rendering Models
Ambient Shading Component
Diffuse Shading Component
Specular Shading Model
Phong Shading Model
Unlit Shading Model
New School Rendering Models
Vertex Shader Parameters
Tessellation Parameters
Geometry Shader Parameters
Pixel/Fragment Shader Parameters
Color Blending Parameters
PBR Rules
Is the Surface Metallic?
Normal Maps
Shiny or Rough?
How Specular Is the Surface?
What Is the Base Color?
Ambient Occlusion and Height
Basic Material Operations
Multiplication
Addition
Linear Interpolation
Material Instancing
Shading Models
Unlit
Rasterized
Ray Traced
Subsurface
Blending Modes
Opaque Layering
Mask Rendering
A Over B Blending
Linear Dodging
Multiply Burning
Texture Mapping
Fundamental Technology
Texture Images
Texture Coordinates
Texture Space
Texture Masking
Animated Texture Images
Virtual Display
Flip-Booking
Panning
Non-Planar Trails
Flowing Lava River
Rotating
Magic Rings
Normal Mapping
Procedural Textures
Mathematical Functions
ABS
Step
Clamp
Linear Step
Smoothstep
Linear Interpolation
Disks
Boxes
Anti-Aliasing
Line Plotting
Sine Wave
Functional Attributes
Wave-Like Attributes
Sine Wave Uses
Randomness, Noise, and Fractals
Randomness
Multi-Dimensional Randomness
Noise
Two-Dimensional Noise
Fractal Noise
Vertex Offset
Definition
Vertex Offset and Surface Silhouette
Character Animation
Displacement Mapping
Procedural Deformations
Panners
Rotator
Sine Wave
Circular Waves
Shrinking and Growing
Absolute World Position
Character Position
Object Position
Bounding Box Position
Object Scaling
Conclusion
Chapter 6: Simulations
Introduction
Storytelling Components
Duplicating Physics
Departure from Other VFX
Computationally Expensive
Personal Comment on Simulations
Chapter Layout
Rigid Bodies
Non-Deforming Bodies
Newtonian Mechanics
Physics Engines
Apply Forces
Update State
Detect Collisions
Solve Constraints
Display Results
Material Force Attributes
Mass
Gravity
Friction
Drag
Resilience and Restitution
Spring (Hooke’s Law)
Damping
Impulse
Object Destruction
Setup
Trigger/Distraction
Simulation
Resolution
Voronoi Decomposition
Off-Line Simulation
Simple Animation
Octopus Skeletons
Vertex Cache
Soft Bodies
Examples
Cloth
Curves
Soft Containers
Organic
Highly Articulated Objects
Paper
Ragdoll
Techniques
Real-Time Simulations
Skeleton Simulations
In-Material Simulations
Off-Line
Fluids
Static Fluid Bodies
In-Material
Spring Simulations
Vertex Caching
Flowing Fluids
In-Material
Spring
Particles
Splashes and Splats
Flip-Booking
Vertex Caching
Vertex Caching and Splashes
Volumetrics
The Challenge
Strategies
Particles, Sprites, and Shaded Spheres
Vertex Cache Simulation
Post-Process
Ray Marching
Constructive Solid Geometry
Signed Distance Fields
Sphere Tracing
Future Direction of Volumetrics
Conclusion
Chapter 7: Particles
Introduction
What Are Particles?
Physics Simulation
CGI Elements
Moments to Learn, a Lifetime to Master
Particle Usage
Atmospherics
Basic Simulations
Trails
Simple Crowd Behavior
Two-Dimensional Motion
Three-Dimensional Motion
Other Particulates
Fountains
Footsteps
Grains
Magic
No Particle
Particle Life
Birth
Life in Simulation
Death
Particle Systems
Engine Objects
Attributes
Static Attributes
Dynamic Attributes
Layers
Emitters
Particles
Forces
Visualization
Instanced Objects
Sprites
Geometry
Lights
Materials
Replication
Render Attributes
Sprite
GPU Sprites
Animated Sprites
Ribbon
Mesh
Static Mesh
Skeletal Mesh
Light
Conclusion
Chapter 8: Conclusion
Introduction
Exceptions
Procedural Modeling
Procedural Animation
Motion Capture
Future VFX
Rendering
Artificial Intelligence
Virtual and Augmented Reality
Lifelong Pursuit
Index
