IndieEffects: Bringing (almost) AAA quality Post-Process FX to Unity Indie

For the record I use both Linux (Ubuntu) and Windows 7 32-bit... At the same time.

 

And that is the way to go! but the fact that my laptop's a school one makes it a bit hard to set up this sort of thing, the only way being wubi, which for some reason broke itself after two weeks. (This is probably why the latest version doesn't have this!)

 

Haven't used wubi myself, I run a VirtualBox setup. Windows is my host OS and runs Sun's VirtualBox with Ubuntu installed as the guest OS. This allows me to run both operating systems at the same time, Ubuntu runs in a window like any other application running on Windows. I use Ubuntu for all of my on-line purposes and Windows for most off-line purposes. Under Windows my firewall blocks all incoming and outgoing traffic, except that which is coming from or going to VirtualBox.

This affords me the compatibility benefits of Windows and the security benefits of Linux.

Edit: Ubuntu doesn't have access to my general file system, it can only access a dynamic virtual storage file so if I ever contract a virus or annoying spyware there is absolutely no way it can infect my host system. In fact someone did upload a virus onto my computer not long ago and all I had to do was delete my virtual machine and create a new one, viola virus gone with absolutely no damage to my files, computer or operating system.

Edit: I won't name names because I'm not 100% sure, but I'm fairly certain I got the virus through a link that was sent to me via private message right here on the Unity Community forums.

 

TheBlur what classes are you taking?

Tryder that is an epic setup. I have Ubuntu on another drive in my computer. I want to eventually set it up like you have.

 

It's pretty easy to setup, just check out Sun's VirtualBox site to download and install VirtualBox, installing an OS is pretty much the same as installing it on a non-virtual machine. As for me, that virus I mentioned appeared to attack only files related to my web-site specifically, not like it was a big deal since I have multiple backups, but it was obviously someone who had something against me specifically, in particular my web-site.

 

Great work!

How do you do the AA-effect? Are you blurring the edges or the overall image?

If you can blur the edges, isn't it than possible to create a comic effekt with drawing lines on the edges?
Or maybe something further darkening the edges to create a effect similiar to SSAO?

 

Thank you very much!!

 

@Baldinoboy: You're a student? i didn't know that! i take ICT and Art

@Tryder: There are always these damn hackers who have nothing better to do than annoy the hell out of everyone else, isn't there? (Like the Blaster Worm: It shuts down your computer every 30mins at random, SO... ANNOYING!!! I never had it, but someone else did, and Symantec actually had a specialized tool to remove this one!) As for the virtual box thing, i did use it for a while, but the power draw was atrocious, which is expected for an emulator. (Except for the game boy and NES ones, they aren't that complex to draw much power at all)

@0tacun: Thanks bro. The AA is a port of the unity pro effect, same with the Fish-eye lens. If you want SSAO, I could play around with the bloom shader to get a similar effect, but Pro SSAO uses depth textures...

@Kirienko: You are welcome sir, if you want me to attempt to do a particular effect, either post the suggestion here, or you can PM me. I can take most requests, if you're giving them! And i just go the idea for a type of tilt-shift blurring effect...

 

No. I'm not in school yet. I was just wondering because you said you had a school laptop. Nice classes.

 

@Baldinoboy: How old are you? If you're ten or something and designing UNITY GAMES, that is badass!!!

 

Ha. No I'm 19. Finished high school and planning on going to college. I'm not designing games yet. Taught myself 3D art but am clueless with coding. Unity is great for learning.

 

Ah, now I see. the way you wrote your post made it sound like you were ten or something. And i could get some terrain design skills from you, since i am not the best terrain modeller (I actually pointed this out in a previous post)

EDIT: for anyone interested, here is my newest thread: http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/210212-Terrain-Challenge-for-Indie-Devs

This is a challenge to see who can create the best terrain using my Indie Effects Package! And Baldinoboy, YOU ARE INVITED!!!

FuzzyQuills

 

First of all great work done. Just wondering if anyone has a ported version to c# of this scripts. Well at least at my side after enabling just the IndieEffects script my fps drop below 30, without it 60, anyone has any hint to make this more fps friendly? Thank's in advance

 

@FDanielC: Try lowering your resolution. (i.e. If your display is at 1080p, this package won't operate at it's best at all) Could you also list your specs, please? this will allow me to provide better advice for you. As for C# porting, davew_uk has a port of it, but it may be out of date as he couldn't quite keep up with the speed this initially developed! If you want a C# port that desperately though, just PM him for a copy, and i guarantee he will probably offer it to you.

 

@TheBlur : Thank you for your advice, i will try that.

My Specs :

AMD Phenom II X4 965 3400Mhz - Quad Core
12 GB Ram at 1033
AMD Radeon HD 6670 - 512MB-1GB GDDR5

 

I am currently 13 making unity games, self teaching myself C#, and i also make pixel art

 

@Seth McCumber: NICE! Like to see how your games turn out! I honestly couldn't be stuffed learning C#, so you're lucky! Have any ready-made games yet? If you do, please post a link!

@FDanielC: An all-AMD computer, huh? I haven't seen such a configuration in a while, a sign Intel is dominating the market. I have heard of AMD CPUs being better, but plagued by the fact that most software is designed for Intel CPUs.

 

@TheBlur Heres a link to my dev blog where i post about games im working on - drabweb.tumblr.com

 

Ok. might have to do this at home though - i am so sure tumblr is blocked by my school's web blocker...

EDIT: I am actually doing web design at school at the moment, so taking one look at this page... APPROVED! I like the soft orange style!

 

Yes! I am approved by TheBlur!

 

@Seth McCumber: Yes, you are, congrats! As for my web page, once i have finished it and handed it in, i am going to post a link to it, so you can look at what's coming up from my studio (Technically my bedroom, but anyway...) Of course, you can evaluate it if you like!

Take note anyone else, the link is fully accessible to everyone else too, so feel free to check it out once posted!

EDIT: here is the link to my website (there isn't much there yet though...):

LINK

For those who want to contribute, I have given clear instructions on the publishing tab.
Cheers 2017 edit: Link no longer up.

 

Just started using your script. Love the blur and AA effects

Thanks!

 

How hard would it be to do some sort of oultine/edge detection effect using this method

 

@Lucas.mv: Thanks for the input! I am actually considering trying to make a tilt-shift blur effect, so keep your windows open! BTW, tell me how it performs for you, this may help me make improvements if possible in the future!

@Straafe: Cartoon effect long-time fan, huh? With the edge-detect, you could use the toon shaders as they include edge marking, but otherwise I could give edge detect a shot if you want. Might take some time, so be patient, I will post the result if I can come up with anything edge-like!

 

for some reason when i use the sript for motion blur it just makes the screen darker what do i do

 

I was useing the image effects and they worked like a dream but about a week ago the image effects only made the screen dark and their was no motion blur no color corection no nothing and i tried fixing it my self but it wont work so here is my last chance pleas some one any one please help me solve this problem i mean the scripts are there they just dont do any thing exept make my screen dark to the point where there is nothing visable please help me :-sad::sad::sad::|:|:neutral::neutral:

 

Make sure you don't have linear lighting enabled. I had that problem. Might be something else.

 

how do i check?

Edit: I use Unity Free if that helps

 

Well if you don't know where it is it is probably not the problem. The default is gamma lighting. Just in case this is how you check.

In the editor go to Edit>Project Settings>Player. Once you select Player the inspector will show your Player Settings. If it is not open click on the Other Settings tab in the Player Settings than you will see Rendering settings. Make sure the color space is gamma not linear.

Hope that is your problem because it's an easy fix. If not you'll need to get TheBlurs' help.

 

it worked turns out somehow i ad linear on like you said thaks for the help

 

Cool. Glad it worked.

 

Amazing, really appreciate it! Should do me fine, until i can afford Pro

Thanks

 

Hello, this looks great, but can I have the latest version? I see 2 versions posted, one is 1mb the other is 3mb and I couldnt found any difference, Im confused -

Another thing, AA is not working for me, the effect doesnt show or the image goes all white.

Thanks for this!

 

For those who had questions or were posting feedback, you may have not been getting replies. This was because I was on work experience and didn't have time to reply to all of you, then the unity website went down for maintenance. (you may have seen this already folks) But now I am back, I am going to reveal my biggest news - My first game is going to be the first official game to use these effects! when my first true test engine comes out, I will post a link, so keep your ports open!

@magnusm: Thanks for the feedback! I definitely agree on the unity pro thing, and nice to see someone trying this in a real project! As I said above, my game is going to use these effects as part of the game engine, so keep your ports open!

@Styrwirld: The two links are there for a reason - One is the .unitypackage download, one is the webplayer you view to trial the effects yourself. I will give an explanantion of how my other effects scripts work (ported or not) :

• There is the "Indie Effects Base," which does the motion blur effect, and does the main frame capture. this is so adding multiple effects didn't mean there was 10 frames being captured a second. (it would have been so S L O W otherwise...)
• When the indie effects script captures a frame, it stores it in the renderTexture global variable, which makes it available to the other effects so they can take that texture and draw the effect on-screen. This also means that without the base script attached, the other scripts won't work.

So your problem with a white screen seems to be that the texture isn't being generated. check your camera to see if the base script is attached. if it isn't, then try attaching the base script to it. (if you don't want the motion blur, just turn the slider down to 0 to disable the effect) If that doesn't work... just tell me how you set the effects up. Anyway, hope my advice works! As for latest version, I am currently working on how to bring depth textures to unity free. (perhaps a custom shader?) for those who want to contribute, post your attempts here.


AN EDIT FOR ALL: I may have worked out a fix for the aspect ratio issues! once I am done, i will upload the results!

 

@TheBlur are you still working on this project?

 

@Seth McCumber: Don't you worry, I was doing my Terrain Challenge entry (Yes, you did read that i would enter my own competition too i hope!) and needed a decent bloom effect. that was where i decided to do a new version of this package when i got a really wild result from it.

Here are my recent updates:

• An improved color blooming and enhancing effect is coming soon
• An all-new blur effect is coming as well. this (and the entry above) are both based on Tryder's StarBloom shader.
• for those who, for some reason, want to change aspect ratio during gameplay (perhaps a graphics config?) the aspect ratio problem is now fixed!

So this is still going - it just took a while, since i have been trying to work on a game concept that would make use of these effects as well as maintain this package at the same time. It's also worth heading to my terrain challenge thread, as I am now finalizing the water shader for the comp - and i will post my entry for the world to see!

Happy Holidays!

 

I tried downloading the newest version but your Drive account is locked.

 

Yeah, me too.. I need the authorization to download the files.
By the way that package is totally awesome as I saw in the WebPlayer, thank you and keep up the great work!!

 

@TheBlur your drive is locked for everything I try to download from you

 

Sorry about the google drive trouble folks, i accidentally forgot to enable sharing in the settings, so it should work now. Note the documentation isn't updated yet, but it should cover the existing effects.

Just letting everyone know, i might have found a way to do Depth Of Field! So keep your eyes open for results!

 

Thanks! Just got it, and I must say, i'm impressed! I hope too see the DoF coming soon!

 

Hey, is there something wrong with the download, or is it just me. I'm getting a load of errors from the editor scripts..?

 

Yes I had those problems to. I fixed it by if you have the pro image effects, delete them from your assets, and the errors should top

 

Hi guys

The long awaited DOF for Indie Effects is now in a useable form and runs, but it isn't quite "plug 'n' play" yet. I am not a cruel man, however, so I will post this screenshot to prove I got it working.

Here it is!
DOF SCREENSHOT

Note that seeing this in motion (when i get around to making it properly plug 'n' play, that is!), you will notice how crude this implementation is - it's directly based on my custom blur shader from the current release, and uses a 'luminance' value to measure depth, and blurs pixels that are out of range of the value given to the shader. (this results in an obvious "barrier" in some scenes) Now who want's tilt-shift too? a tilt-shift blur could be easily made from this, as all it would take is adding a second depth value for the near plane.

 

Wow, looks very good! Keep it up! I'm curious how far you can push Unity Indie

 

@0tacun: I am now finished the DOF effect but i haven't updated the documentation yet, so expect a new upload soon. BTW, if you want me to try and do another effect, put up a suggestion! I may have time to work on it, but it depends on what i plan to do most of the time, as i am developing a game at the moment and have not had much time to work on this.

 

Looking forward to trying the DOF effect.

New effects! What about a sun shafts effect? One that originates from a game object.

What kind of game are you making?

 

Yes, the DOF effect seeing in motion would be great

My suggestion would be: Edge Detection! Based on geometry or color.

Keep up the good work!

 

@Baldinoboy: now THAT is a nice suggestion! I could actually use that for more realistic 'god rays,' unlike the current one, which is just radial blur with additive color.

Now, with this game i am making, i am hoping to combine... Brawler, Platformer, and Adventure genres into one epic game. At the moment, I am building the enemies, but the primary eye-opener is... OMG! it uses a custom script to implement IndieEffects features, allowing for MotionBlur, radial blur and God Rays (for a special move) to be used! Once i have a proper test level, i will make a new thread for beta testing, so keep looking!

@0tacun: Hmm... the geometry-based approach sounds like a great option, now that i have the IndieEffects_Depth extension. (this powers the DOF effect) If anyone knows how to check pixels around one pixel, i could give it a shot. (and with the pixel check, i could have it look for subtle depth changes (and sharp ones), an indication that surfaces are next to each other, then perhaps color that pixel black (or even a color of your choice!) BTW, nice profile picture! I can see where you got the edge detection suggestion from...

 

@TheBlur any chance you could make C# versions of this some time? Its really hard for me to use the my C# with JS, for enabling certain effects and such