I am bored of waiting, lets discuss graphics

[Stelios]

Hello everyone!
Like many of you, i just cant wait for AC to be released. I also cant seem to drive any other sim knowing that AC is on the way. I hope it gets released soon.

Something that bugs me with the tech demo graphics is that for the most times of the day on the track, the lighting seems like its blurring the rest of the graphics. I mean that when the sun is strong, the car , track and all the other objects have this kind of blur on them. This is also visible in the latest 458 screenshots, especially the cockpit shot.

Am i missing something in the graphics settings? Is this engine using differed lighting? If yes, this blur is to be expected but honestly i cant say i like it that much. I tried playing around with the graphics settings in the menu but it is still there. Maybe there is a line of text i can edit in the game's .cfg?

What do you guys think?

p.s. Maybe "blur" is not the best word to describe it, maybe its "dirty" , "fuzzy"
p.s2 Maybe its BLOOM ? I think its the same "effect" in BF3 for example

 

[Mr Whippy]

HDR isn't an effect, it's an entire processing pipeline that is much more real than old games.

The thing that is key to the 'look' is the tone mapping.

Tone-mapping is usually a fairly simple function that takes the HDR values and turns them into an LDR (0-255 intensities of each colour which our screens display) image.

The only input really is the desired exposure level to use, and then the function alters the HDR image to LDR.

If you don't like what you see there is a VERY good chance you will be able to change it, if the AC team have left that element of the shading process exposed, which wouldn't be a problem to do.

Imo, they have very little to protect with their tone-mapper because I agree, it's not all that great looking.

We have to remember that it's really hard to copy what the eye sees because really it's got about 14 stops of dynamic range, but showing an image that wide always looks fake and weird... so it's about finding a tone-mapper that 'looks' right in an image, without us then comparing it to a photo or something which looks different again (due to the limitations of cameras and dynamic range)

And after all that it's projected on an LDR screen which can't hope to get near blinding whites and super deep blacks... an LCD screen is probably about 1 stop wide in dynamic range.


My 2p is that the tone mapping can be tweaked to suit, and you'll have your pick of tens of tone-mappers within a few months of release as people dig into things!


Cheers

Dave

 

[Mr Whippy]

All that just being said, I've noticed the sun specular always looks really yellowy, which makes me wonder if the sun colour is artificially yellow too.

Generally the sun is blue or white, only going yellow tinted due to the atmosphere at low incident angles (ie, sunset)

Again, I assume that is pretty easy to change if AC is to be a moddable kinda game... so I'd say we might see some shader tweaks/mods that can make it look more natural and realistic.


No problems unless they compile all their shaders and don't leave anything exposed which might well happen... that would be bad if they are so forceful that their way is right (which it clearly isn't because I agree it is too yellowy and the yellow specular always stand out to me as being wrong)

Dave

 

[Marian Zelenka]

HDR is terrible, I always turn it off. Never understood the fuss about it when everything shines so unnaturally. I know that it's not about the technology, but developers always cross the line.

 

[RaceNut]

Try changing the HDR Profile in "Settings" once the track is loaded.

 

[Cedric Germain]

I wish there will be a correction. nowadays in everygame, it looks too clean and perfect.
One guy modified some aspects in the game (colour Saturation, windshield ...) and it Looks soo good:

 

[Stelios]

I am loving the realistic look of the video above.

 

[betterstranger]

I wish there will be a correction. nowadays in everygame, it looks too clean and perfect.
One guy modified some aspects in the game (colour Saturation, windshield ...) and it Looks soo good:

great stuff - really looks fantastic - maybe dashboard is only a little bit too dark.

 

[JvMr]

Looks good but overall a bit too dark for daytime imo.

 

[eobet]

That video is still way too yellow. It doesn't look realistic and it doesn't look like a sepia filter. It just looks like a badly applied aging effect.

I really hope the final game allows for adjustment of color balance. I'd hate do have to use one of these "injectors" just to get the game to look normal.

Also, AC already has some pro customers for simulators and nobody complained about the yellow filter? I find that difficult to believe.

Just for reference, this is still the most realistic racing video someone's put together so far, imo (and it's iRacing):

 

[DennS]

Are those "enhanced" videos real ingame footage or are they taken with a camera? If it is ingame then yes it looks different but I wouldn't say any more realistic (apart from the windshields/visor that looks great)... It is still a long way to go to get realistic graphics, to me everything looks like a game. I do agree though that AC looks a bit too yellow and some color adjustments would be nice.

BTW does anyone know if dirty windshields/visors are included in AC, like we had in netkarPro? That adds immensely to a realistic look I think (even if it is just a gimmick )

Nonetheless I really like this thread, a good discussion, maybe Kunos takes notes

 

[Mr Whippy]

That video looks like it's filmed on a screen, not a screen grab software. When the car hits the kerbs the colours separate... I really doubt that is a shader effect so must be from the camera used to film it!

A camera filming things on screen always gives a different impression to a true screen capture.


It does look better though... but it's still yellow.

I'd be asking what colour their sun is on the tracks. Specular look yellow, so maybe the sun is yellow?

I suppose you can adjust colour balance in the tone mapper so it might be a super easy fix.

Maybe the warm yellow style is an 'artistic' choice?

Dave

 

[RaceNut]

I do like the AC video above as well - some subtle windscreen reflections and smudges, bugs, etc really do add to the realism.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Here´s a graphic feature i have yet to see in a sim (that i am consciously aware of at least)

Road reflections. it´s not water

I guess "mirage" is the right word.

 

[Stelios]

this illusion is not welcome for me

Seriously, it would be really really annoying i think

 

[Hampus Andersson]

this illusion is not welcome for me

Seriously, it would be really really annoying i think

Do you get annoyed by it everytime you are on the freeway on summer days?
Can´t say it´s not realistic though.

The picture above is quite an extreme example and depending on how close you are it lasts for maybe 1-2 seconds.

 

[nothke]

Here´s a graphic feature i have yet to see in a sim (that i am consciously aware of at least)

Road reflections. it´s not water

I guess "mirage" is the right word.

Mirage reflection is actually in rFactor2 xD but it is very hard to spot it (as it should be), only at extremely low angles to the road surface.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

that´s awesome thanks, impressive that they thought about that and incorporated it!

 

[Stereo]

I guess "mirage" is the right word.

Very localized temperature inversion; light travels faster through hotter air, which refracts differently, so at glancing angles it gets reflected off the hot air on the surface of the track. What you're seeing is a puddle of hot air. I suspect it needs to be not very busy and not very windy for it to accumulate enough to be visible, rather than just mixing with the cooler air above it.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

It usually forms in the cavities in the road as well, like this,

And here´s a very extreme example of a mirage called Fata Morgana,

Looks like "the matrix" is falling apart

 

[Stelios]

Do you get annoyed by it everytime you are on the freeway on summer days?
Can´t say it´s not realistic though.

The picture above is quite an extreme example and depending on how close you are it lasts for maybe 1-2 seconds.

Living in a very hot country like Greece, i see this very often.
When i am driving on the road i don't concentrate so much on the asphalt as much as i do when racing... so i guess i don't give it much attention.
Having it in the center of my screen while racing, i think that's a different story