Lux – an open source physically based shading framework

@Larsbertram1:Impressive and great work on the Cubemapper so far! looking forward to it!
@Salem Saberhagen: That is one impressive gun! This gun definitely showcases Lars' asset better than my poor attempt... Anyway, keep it up!
@tynew: Did you make that helmet?! Anyway, nice examples!

 

gdurl doesn't seem to be happy today. Mind posting the direct link?

 

@lars
sweet updates man!

@FuzzyQuills
Hah I wish Yeah you can check more examples like those on Polycount the 3D art forum

 

hi there,

sorry if the link to version 0.07 did not work.

but this one should:
http://bit.ly/1gmApq1

lars

 

Currently importing - didn't lie when they said it takes a while haha. I have skyshop to hand also, and I think i'll be switching back and forth a little bit because i'm sure either one of the other will have the best fit for what I want. Esp as I fell in love with Lars' foliage shaders last night, which implies Lux as standard for that side of things

 

@lazygunn: i hope the package has been imported by now... ;-)

@everybody else: as i am preparing the final package that gets sent to the asset store i would be happy about any feedback concerning version 0.07.
any problems, bugs or proposals?

and how would you like to import the package: all shaders and dems at once (taking about 30min) or just 2 or 3 base shaders and a minimal demo scene. all other shaders would come in packages as part of the main package, so you could only import those which you are interested in?

lars

 

I did finally arrive! And now i'm vexed I have no suitable material to put through its paces.. hmm.. i think i'll grab one of my old 3DSMax environments and open my trusty gametextures.com folder and see if I can put together something pretty (If somewhat surreal)

In fact a few things spring to mind, and it would be nice seeing these shaders in a game environment

 

@Lazygunn: Like to see what you come up with! I am considering giving Lux a shot again, this time with a podracer 3D model i made not too long ago in blender. And I wonder what you have up your sleeve from your old folders...

@Tynew: Ah well. people have these days. I could have a shot at making a similar helmet if i wanted to, but i have no need. at least for now...

@Lars: Another update? You are the fastest coder i know so far! It takes me months to finalize a release for one of my effects packages, so you sir have the world record in my book! Anyway, I'm gonna have a fiddle around with your new version, see what beast i can come up with...

 

You can see pretty much all of it from looking at the webplayers in my sig to be honest, i think (think) the only asset in there that isnt part of a kit is the goblin. I find the sheer waste of the goblin demo so funny i'm going to redo it with all the fancy things i've learnt since and it still come to the same result

 

HA HA! , I saw your link to a sloth game! Imagine blowing up Brisbane with a SLOTH! And did you get that model from Google Earth? I recognize it for some reason...

I don't see a webplayer using lux in your page though... perhaps you could point me to it? Pweease

 

I'm thinking the second option might be the best. This way people don't have a huge download each time there is an update.

BTW, is this still restricted to baked lighting situations, or is there a reasonable way to tweak it to get some benefit in dynamic lighting / day-night cycle scenes?

 

Download size would be the same, it's import time that would be saved as you'd only import the stuff that you needed. And since shader compilation is so slow, this could be a really big time savings, especially as more shader variations are added.

 

Sneak Peek!!!!

 

nnnnnice!

 

At least Lars now uses Google Drive which, believe it or not, was actually my suggestion when his original link kept dropping out on me. And it is better to have the option of two downloads as you could have all these ideas, then you simply download the core and get tweaking!

 

Also importing here. Kind of excited to play around with it, but I guess I'll have to find something else to do for the next 30 minutes

 

Yeah the city of brisbane was ripped straight out of google earth, it was a birthday present for a friend, and while i've scant regard for copyright laws when the systems holding those laws have no mechanism to aid those in my circumstances, i have even less regard when it comes to making things for my friends' birthdays. The sloth was an in-joke only the friend would really understand.

I haven't added any webplayers or made anything worth a webplayer in quite some time I don't think, few bits and bobs but the closest i've gotten to a physically shading model in my own work that is available is my adaption of scrawks ocean system with Suimono 1's shaders

As I own Jove and Skyshop and have a great deal of interest in Lux, i'll probably have a go at replacing the materials in a few of my demos, most notably the demo where the guy runs around smashing things up by diving at it, the marble madness clone i did with shiny graphics and the collaboration piece i did early last year for a competition. It'll be interesting comparing frameworks in these settings and give me an idea of where to go on the next step up to finishing preparations to my main project. Which is going to take a great deal of preparation to be achievable

I'm adapting my own version of Suimono (Will only be available to Suimono owners) that should give decently realistic statistic based optics and surface characteristics for large bodies of water (dx11 only), keeping up the pbr spirit, altough you'll be able to get very arty if you wish, and this I hope to adapt well to the use of skyshop/lux/alloy etc and i'll post webplayers of the results I achieved with the various systems in various environments when I get the chance, along with the many other things i've said i'd do

To be honest apart from a quick review of these shaders in existing work i've done, it's likely they'll mostly crop up in a fairly ambitious demo I have planned/am assembling the foundations for, that I intend to showcase the great many amazing shader collections, systems, bla bla i've acquired over the years, a big part of Lux's integration being its collaboration with RTP particularly relating to foliage. Lars' foliage shaders have greatly relieved some anxieties I have had regarding very densely populated woodland area (As well as truly bringing all manner of foliage to life) and I can imagine Lux can augment this quite well

 

hi there,

although i am still working on version 0.1 for the asset store there is a little update for the terrain and tree creator shaders.
all of them now should support fog correctly – even in forward on dx9/dx11 – but only fog mode = exp2.
if you need another fog mode you will have to edit the shaders manually. in this case please have a look at the docs.

the package only contains the terrain, detail and tree creator shaders:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7wuYyJnwF9dT1pPeGloT0gySjA/edit?usp=sharing

please let me know how this update works for you,

lars

 

@Lazygunn: Fair enough then, and you are right about Lux! When I first saw one of Lars' sample terrains, it almost looked like the rocks were WET. And the trees definitely had realism the normal tree shaders could only dream of. as for the other shaders, i popped one of the Lux shaders on my snow scene, and got a pretty good result. (note that i haven't showcased it yet - I haven't got any decent rocks in my snow!) I also got one of my water shaders ported to lux, as you may know from a recent post, and the water looked awesome after that. My water shader has also improved over the coming months, so if you would like to look at it, I will post screenshots.

@Lars: This is almost all anyone needs for a simple game. that way, this link can be used as the "minimal pack" option, and you could also have an extension and full package option that allows you to upgrade the minimal pack or download the full package once, then install it! Just a suggestion I though of when i saw your post.

EDIT: Just downloaded your little package(AMAZINGLY SMALL FOR LUX!) and might take a look later at it. did you include the basic metalness shader? Or is that in the full download? (hope not, that means another 300MB download!)

 

hi there,

the package laocated under:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7w...it?usp=sharing

only contains the terrain and tree shaders...

lars

 

DANG! Ah well! Could you add the basic metalness shader too? Cause that is all i am after at the moment, and have no desire to redownload lux for the fourth time.

 

hi there,

while i am still working on version 0.1 and the lux cubemapper here is some more "input" showing what you could do with the existing shaders or what you will be able to do with the upcoming ones.

lars

(if you can’t see the image attached, please choose another browser…)

 

Does the reflection work on Unity Indie?

 

It's only a cubemap, so it should work on Indie

 

right: reflections work in pro and indie. and thanks to rea’s work you will even be able to capture high quality environment probes using indie.

lars

 

Hey lars,

What are your thoughts about Unity 5 now that it will have native PBR support

 

It's possible that many of those Unity 5 features will be Pro-only.

 

I bet Unity free users will only get the 64 bit editor, webgl, cross-promotion, and PhysX 3.3. All that is still great. Looking forward to the Physx 3.3. Not sure if speedtree integration will be available for free users.

I doubt Unity free users will get physically based shaders. At least we have Lux.

 

Unity 5 already?! Bloody hell. Better look this up.

And thanks for pointing out the environment probes, lars. I actually heard of a cubemap solution that uses these... Anyway, nice work! Is this cubemapping in the current version? Or do i have to wait an extremely short time to get it? And say my thanks to rea! Without him, this pack won't be the beast it is today!

EDIT: they don't have free unity 5 yet? Ah well... Still worth looking at for those with a mountain of cash in hand. And that picture for Unity 5 looks epic! Keep it up UT!

@Baldinoboy: Agreed! And a new PhysX engine? just another thing to break my games with

 

They don't have a Unity 5 Pro yet either It's just preorders right now, won't be released until later in the year. Still Unity 4.5 and 4.6 before then.

 

hi there,

i was pretty amazed watching the trailer video – like probably most of you.
it all looks like simply a new engine…

pbs is unity 5 – i guess it will not be pro only, why should it?
somewhere it says: for all users if i remember correctly.

well, we have to look at it when it is out.
the shader they showed on unite 13 was pure cg and worked only in forward.
but hey: they worked for 18 month on it so how can i as a one man show beat them in just 3 months?

may be lux is just an interim solution – so you can start to get familiar with pbs.
may be it will have its value next to unity's solution and may be i will pick up unity’s path and write some additions.
i am not sure if they are going to update all shaders as they showed just an uebershader handling a lot of cases.
but what is with vertex blend parallax bumped specular and other monsters like this?

btw. i am pretty excited about speed tree and the ambient lighting setup.

lars

 

there won’t be any major updates before the final release which i hope to send to the asset store within the next days.
then it could take a while: around a week or so.
but i will provide the final package as download link as well.

lars

 

@niosop2: Fair enough. Still worth a look. and unity 4.4 doesn't exist yet either dude! Sounds like the coming Wii U Game flood, don't you think?

 

Yes, please yes! I'm sure you would add some absolutely amazing things to Unity. Your already great at programming and the Unity world needs more people like you!

 

I did it!
Right now the package is uploading to the asset store.

And i have opend a new thread.
You will find it at: http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/235027-Lux-%96-an-open-source-physically-based-shading-framework

Lars

 

NICE DUDE! just found your thread!

 

I just thought I'd add regarding Unity 5's possible Pro vs Indie features ... and this is pure speculation ... it could be that a lot of the new stuff for Unity 5 is kept Pro-only, but maybe one or two useful older Pro features, like RenderTextures, becomes indie.

As an indie user, I could live with that. And I think it would cause relatively little disturbance in the asset store.

 

@hopeful: maybe. it could also be that the deferred rendering path becomes available in indie, since it could be superseded by the new PBR algorithm. BTW for those who don't know the acronym of PBR, it's Physically-Based Rendering.

Still nice how Unity Team are pushing this new PBR engine, which could be a major threat to other engines such as Unreal Engine. And for those who want a sneak peek at what PBR can do, take one look at the new home page: the avatar-esque figure is GLORIOUS!

 

Honestly I wouldn't really call Unity a threat to those engines. They have a lot of native features that would absolutely blow Unity out of the water for example volumetric/physical particles and dynamic fluid simulation. Also Unreal and CryEngine now already support PBR.

 

Something cool I noticed testing out UE4, they have a bloom / lensflare combo (post effect?) that occurs where there are high fresnel specular locations-- the PBR really comes to life with it.

 

Any screenshot of it?? just curious

 

http://imgur.com/tYHj4P2

It has a dirty screen/baked flare kind of effect and a proper subtle lens flare too-- of course many people would argue against flares, but the bloom looks nice and warm around the arm of the chair. It could be a part of the auto-exposure effect I heard mentioned in a tutorial (I have only touched a little into UE4).

 

ah you can get those effect in unity already if you have pro

 

Well there is something Unreal can't beat that Unity can. And that is multi-platform support! Not sure about Cryengine though. Anyone know about Cryengine platform compatibility?

@hd_ rea: Impressive! And rea, I do have a way of producing the image effects in free. simply type in "epic radial" into the search bar and see for yourself! And of course, i could actually do something like what hd_ did. BTW hd_, nice screenshot!

 

I actually didn't 'do' anything in the screen shot, UE4 starts you off with a bunch of effects.

 

Seriously? That's impressive for a game engine. gives beginners what they want i guess.

And who agrees that this is turning into a discussion thread?

 

Anyone can share comparison screen with grass/trees using Lux and default Unity shaders?

 

@virror: Dude! Just take one look at the example terrain scene and one of your own: other than the grass (which looked burnt to me when i tried an earler version ) the tree leaves and bark look awesome. EVEN the rocks looked natural!

 

hi virror,

i doubt that showing some comparison screens would really take account of what the shaders actually do.
all terrain related shaders (terrain, grass, trees) only add diffuse ambient image based lighting but no specular (due to the limited number of texture samplers or the fact that using specular ambient lighting simply ruined billboarding). so the visual impact mostly depends on how your diffuse cube map looks like: the more contrast it contains the more difference it will make compared to just using the regular ambient lighting.
Most noticeable it will get on parts which are fully shadowed as diffuse ambient image based lighting will recover the normal maps whereas regular ambient lighting will give you completely flat shading.
you might judge this as only a minor or subtle improvement but there other points which definitely are worth being considered:
- the shaders will make your terrain, grass and trees fit to the lighting of all other objects.
- tree and billboard shaders do work with linear lighting.

btw.: it is just one click to disable image based diffuse ambient lighting on all terrain related shaders making them faster without loosing the improvements i have made to linear lighting and trees/billboards. And of course you will still benefit from Lux’s advanced direct specular lighting.

lars

 

Thanx! Did not know there was an example scene included. Will download it and check it out : )
I guess this will work well together with your foliage shader package lars?