Uncharted 4

[melviso]

I wonder if there are gamers here.

Anyone here dig the Uncharted games? I am looking forward to Uncharted 4. For me, the game graphics quality seems to be my main focus. Especially since it's realtime. Its no where near photorealism but the amount of work the devs have put into lighting, texturing and subtle animations is really commendable. I read somewhere that all textures for the game are handpainted.

It makes me wonder what they would be capable of when next gen consoles comes around.

[FrostKiwi]

It makes me wonder what they would be capable of when next gen consoles comes around.

Propably the same quality PC's could do two years ago.

theastronauts.com demoed, that the next step is photogrammetry / laser scans + in far out future raytracing.
http://www.theastronauts.com/2014/03/visual-revolution-vanishing-ethan-carter/

Although uncharted, is on the mid end of current gen capabilities, take a look at Detroit: Become Human.
In a enclosed, and more focused space, this is the current max, what we can achive on current gen, without raytracing.

[melviso]

I have read that page sometime ago in the past. Photogrammetry seems interesting. Probably would save a lot of time creating assets but a zillion photos? I still see a lot of studios taking the old fashioned route though and using artists that can paint photorealistic textures. However I do think this is the future of creating assets for games and films.

 I am more of a pc gamer now.

Detroit: Become Human looks really great. Wonder what David Cage's approach with this one would be.

[FrostKiwi]

I have read that page sometime ago in the past. Photogrammetry seems interesting. Probably would save a lot of time creating assets but a zillion photos?

This Corona user, who did an artsy thingy, had a lego robot build for photogrammetry (bottom of post)
https://forum.corona-renderer.com/index.php/topic,8057.0.html

If you have enough money to hire an artists to create rock assests, you definetly have enough money to buy a laserscanner and just scan a zillion rocks in no time :D
Also, the Agisoft photoscan workflow has become very streamlined over the years. You can have dedicated build slaves on your renderfarm just for photogrammetry. That stuff will stay, albeit not for complex models you interact with.

[melviso]

That was some really nice animation rendered in Corona. Thanks for posting.

Well, I am not saying it isn't a good method. I was just thinking of the amount of photos, not to mention situations u might have to go through to get the photos. Like if u need to make a scan of something u might not be able to get or u might need to travel to photograph. Say a shark found in the ocean or certain coral shells. Just modelling and texturing it seems like a better option than traveling out to the sea or trying to find a shark.

I am not saying this isn't a good technique. It is and I see a lot of people trying this out. But there are certain situations or assets that are better off using the old method. I remember someone saying these days they don't model people,or characters, they just scan people for cinematic animations. I certainly would be trying this out at some point. Have u given photogrammetry a go?

[FrostKiwi]

Say a shark found in the ocean or certain coral shells.

https://forum.corona-renderer.com/index.php/topic,10019.msg63895.html#msg63895

True... you cant replace an artist.
Ye, I have tried it a bunch. I'm using triple kinects as a mocap solution and have found out about photogrammetry, when toying around with the kinect's 3D model capture feature in the api (which is useless).
I tried it a bunch with a lazy susan and my One plus one (which by the way correctly configured can dish out some dslr quality photos), however the objects I'm interested in scanning are all heavily concave, so I end up with 70 photos and a bunch of cleanup. Greenscreening and masking before photogrammetry is a good solution, but stupidly time consuming.
Icredibly fun to play around with, though.

[melviso]

Sounds like fun. I probably have to give this a go when I have time.



Kinects for mocap? U do animations as well? I read somewhere that using 6 playstation eye cameras gives better results. Are u using Ipisoft software?

[FrostKiwi]

Are u using Ipisoft software?

Yes.
Since cleanup is needed anyways, it doesnt matter to me, how mich better a ps eye setup is.
Kinects are not dependant in light at all, since they are IR blasters, so no studio lighting needed.
Also 6+ pseyes are a crap load of cables to work with, if you don't have a dedicated space/studio.

[melviso]

I will try Kinect then. I have been thinking of trying out animations using mocap. Especially for characters moving around in animations showing off a house. Will be trying out creating realistic people using Corona, 3dsmax and Sculptris sometime soon. Though some ppl hate mocap, bc of the cleaning up and the technical problems that come with it. They would rather act it out and animate the character using the video as a reference.