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[released] Overcloud - Volumetric Sky And Lighting

Discussion in 'Assets and Asset Store' started by Fewes, Mar 25, 2019.

  1. Fewes

    Fewes

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    It's already on the list to add compatibility to but I just haven't had the time yet. It'll be up on the compatibility page this upcoming week for sure.
     
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  2. KarloE

    KarloE

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    If you saw recent post, nevermind it, I seemed to missed a step in the setup of lux water.

    Also got a question, which is the best way to change at which height the clouds are forming?

    There is a slight problem with the underwater look of the lux water combined with overcloud:

    http://prntscr.com/om0w8w

    Any ideas how to get rid of that?
     
    Last edited: Jul 30, 2019
  3. Fewes

    Fewes

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    Hmm, looks like Lux is not rendering its underwater fog for a sliver of the horizon. Could you check the frame debugger for the order in which things are drawn? Lux should be drawn afterwards no problem but it looks like it is failing for some reason.
     
  4. KarloE

    KarloE

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    Fewes likes this.
  5. Fewes

    Fewes

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    This might be something Lux has to fix on their end, but I'll check it out and see if I can get around it. Thanks for the video, it makes it much easier to pinpoint!
     
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  6. KarloE

    KarloE

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    I can probably fix this by using lux water Managed Transparent Materials. I would just need to know where to find the material used by the clouds in question. Or is it generated at runtime?

    Im not even sure what it is thats getting rendered, part of it are 2d Clouds, but here is me removing them: https://gyazo.com/bedb31c08b4f2ce7b4fb9173ffee09ed

    Not sure what is left?

    EDIT: Ok Im silly, I didnt notice that there are 2 of those layers, I just deleted 1. Ok so basically its 2D clouds that are making the problem.
     
    Last edited: Jul 30, 2019
  7. larsbertram1

    larsbertram1

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    I had a closer look at your capture of the frame debugger (great thing!) and i think that the "thin line" you get is the gap between solid geometry (terrain) and the water surface - or the hemisphere used for cloud rendering and the water surface.

    due to the rendering order:
    1. underwater
    2. clouds
    3. water surface from below
    only the water surface from below may occlude the clouds.

    but we need the underwater post effect to do so as well.
    so my first try would be to move the cloud rendering from CameraEvent.BeforeForwardAlpha to CameraEvent.AfterSkybox.

    @Fewes Do you see any problem in moving cloud rendering up in the queue?
     
  8. Fewes

    Fewes

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    Thanks for the reply! Unfortunately yes. The reason the clouds are drawn in BeforeForwardAlpha is so translucent materials can be mixed with the clouds using the clouds depth buffer.
    Are you using ImageEffectOpaque to render the underwater effects? If so I could look into moving at least part of the rendering of OverCloud there so it can be ordered manually in the inspector.
     
  9. KarloE

    KarloE

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    Hey, yeah the problem is the post effect is not rendering over the clouds, so there is a gap once I ran out of surface to cover them. @larsbertram1 here is my setup, ZWrite is On(you asked me that previously): http://prntscr.com/omebb3

    Also, when I go deeper, the clouds become more visible(since the angle is greater towards them so I can see more of it), just wanted to note that, which confirms whats happening:
    http://prntscr.com/omee0d

    So If I put ZTest Never in the water settings, I get this:
    http://prntscr.com/omeesy

    https://gyazo.com/100b04326dc05ad55c508e9344094811

    Anyhow, just confirming what is the case. :)

    Thank you both for helping out I am sure we can figure something out.


    BTW as I mentioned, seems the only problem are 2d clouds, I think it is because only them go far enough to go pass the water surface that covers the clouds normally. So maybe there can be some separate solution for them, compared to volumetric clouds? Not sure, just throwing ideas.
     
    Last edited: Jul 31, 2019
  10. larsbertram1

    larsbertram1

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    that was a dumb question :)
    ZTest Never means: never draw the water. so the result is expected.
     
  11. larsbertram1

    larsbertram1

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    and that would not be possible if they used CameraEvent.AfterSkybox? i don't see why...
    yes.
     
  12. KarloE

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    I understand, just wanted to show the whole clouds plane, and what actually is the line I see! :)

    But I realize now its already shown on the gif I sent previously, honestly I forgot about what I have shown. :)
     
  13. Fewes

    Fewes

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    Actually, you might be right! KarloE, could you try going in OverCloud/Scripts/OverClouds.cs and change all occurances of "CameraEvent.BeforeForwardAlpha" to "CameraEvent.AfterSkybox" (there should only be two) and see if that fixes it?
     
  14. KarloE

    KarloE

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  15. KarloE

    KarloE

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    Hey, unfortunately I have another problem, OverCloud wise. :)

    When I get really close to water, this happen ( so if im close to water surface looking up): https://gyazo.com/3a29334e3ba577b593021fd2a7b22b32

    Any clue why that would appear? I also noticed it when I make the time go too fast, the same kind of flickering appears.

    Oh ok, so seems like the volumetric clouds completely dissapear when im underwater looking up:

    https://gyazo.com/7420f23ea96803878f7f4a77f86cd1df

    The flickering seems to be some mid-state that makes them appear/dissapear real fast, I think. Not sure.


    EDIT: Ok I figured it out. I happens when Camera is near Y = 0, and is not related to shaders at all, seems so. My water was at 0.0 Y, thus it seemed like they dissapear because of the water but they do because of the Y. Not sure if this is the intended behaviour and what is the reason for that.
     
    Last edited: Jul 31, 2019
  16. larsbertram1

    larsbertram1

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  17. Fewes

    Fewes

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    Great to hear it works, I'll include that in the patch.
    What you are seeing in regards to the flickering is the camera culling the clouds because the "planet sphere" intersects the view rays.This is needed to allow clouds to be occluded by the horizon, but it is not required if the camera is inside the sphere (which it is in this case). It is very easy to fix so you can count on it also making it into the patch.
     
    Last edited: Jul 31, 2019
  18. KarloE

    KarloE

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    Got it, thanks a lot for all the effort. :)
     
    Fewes likes this.
  19. whiskers434

    whiskers434

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    Hi,

    The shadows from my building objects have a strange "shake" to them as the sun moves.

    Any tips on what settings to use to reduce this "shake"

    Thanks
    ~whiskers434
     
  20. Fewes

    Fewes

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    Hi!
    This is most likely due to directional light shadow instability. Try:
    1. Reducing your shadow distance under project settings.
    2. Increasing your camera near clip plane.
    3. Reducing your camera far clip plane.

    Let me know if this works for you, thanks!
     
  21. whiskers434

    whiskers434

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    thanks, tweaked those settings and it has reduced the shaking
     
    Fewes likes this.
  22. PhoenixAdvanced

    PhoenixAdvanced

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    Hello,

    I am interested in this asset, but I want to know if it supports non y-up orientation?

    IE, can I rotate the asset to any orientation?

    I am working on a space game with spherical worlds, and so my players up vector may not be along the y-axis.

    Thanks!
     
  23. ProtoPottyGames

    ProtoPottyGames

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    Hi. I just happened to catch the conversation toward the top of this ( @threadlarsbertram1 , @Fewes , @KarloE ) about Lux Water compatibility and was wondering if that all turned out to be a thing that worked. If so, what might be the best place for me to find information on getting that set up?
     
  24. Fewes

    Fewes

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    OverCloud does not support spherical worlds, nor does it support rotating its world axis as it was made with default Unity scenes in mind.

    Lux support is coming, as well as Ceto. I know I stated in a previous post that it would be out by now, but that turned out to be an optimistic guess. I'll be working on it, plus a new cloud stamp feature (which will allow you to place clouds manually, or reversely punch holes in existing cloud coverage) in the coming weeks. Thank you for your patience!
     
    jashan likes this.
  25. PhoenixAdvanced

    PhoenixAdvanced

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    Thanks for that!
     
  26. KarloE

    KarloE

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  27. Migueljb

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    Don't forget to add RAM integration it's the best for rivers. Rivers and clouds go hand in hand:)
     
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  28. KarloE

    KarloE

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    So I fiddled around with the options, seems that the issue dissapears when I disable the scattering mask. Not sure why it happens though, it definitely seems to be connected to the scattering mask.
     
  29. AERwaevs

    AERwaevs

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    Hi Felix, just wondering if the atmospheric scattering supports shadows from point/spot lights as well? Or just the directional light. Also wanted to know what the support is like for custom weather types. You mention on the asset store page that you can implement custom float values to drive other effects, but is it possible to change things like the scattering or colour parameters? (e.g. in a sandstorm there may be a red/yellow tint to the 'fog')

    Really been considering switching from my heavily modified version of uSky but having maintained that myself for years it's a big jump to a whole new system, but yours is seeming to be the best candidate!
     
  30. Enroy

    Enroy

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    Are there any plans for the future to support this? I'd really like to use this asset but I'd need to get it working with spherical planets.

    Nice work!
     
  31. Migueljb

    Migueljb

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    Any status on the RAM integration yet need to get that working soon for my next environment?
     
  32. Fewes

    Fewes

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    This could be related to the way shadows are rendered in Unity. I'll have to investigate to see what is the cause. Does it only happen when the moon is the dominant light, or does it happen with the sun as well?

    RAM support is coming, along with the patch fixing a number of things. I've just had less time to work on this the last few weeks than I initially thought.

    Lux is already supported, information on how to make it compatible can be found here: http://overcloud.me/compatibility.html

    No shadows from point/spot lights unfortunately. I had this planned but it ended up being scrapped as it was holding the asset back from being released. Funny you should mention uSky, I used a custom version of it myself for a long time before deciding to create my own system, which eventually turned into OverCloud :)

    I can confidently this will not be supported in the future. It would be cool to have for sure, but it would require a massive rework of the way everything is rendered unfortunately.

    Also, I'd like to thank everyone who's been patiently waiting on the next patch. I've been out of office for a lot longer than I expected this summer but I'm back in the saddle now and things should start moving forwards again.
     
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  33. MythOfNight

    MythOfNight

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    What is planned for overcloud? Are new weather effects expected, such as snow or hail? Will it be compatible in the future with LWRP?
     
  34. Fewes

    Fewes

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    Currently, a cloud "stamp" system is planned. I am not planning on adding new weather effects, as the ones provided serve more as examples of content which can be added on top. It will not be SRP-compatible at probably any point.
     
  35. razzraziel

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    Can you elaborate on stamp system?
     
  36. Fewes

    Fewes

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    For sure. Essentially, it will allow you to manually place either clouds or holes in the existing cloud coverage.
    Internally, OverCloud renders the 2D cloud coverage to a buffer (called the Compositor) to accelerate rendering. The stamps render on top of this buffer (hence the "stamp" name) based on their world position. Manually placed clouds will still be limited to the same height as the rest of the cloud coverage, but this should work out nicely for cases where you want to make sure there is cloud coverage at a certain position, or vice versa.
     
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  37. straylight

    straylight

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    Hi Felix,
    Getting some beautiful results with OverCloud.

    Thanks so much for a great product! Have you made any progress with 360 capture? I am trying to use the Unity recorder to capture a monoscopic 360 but the sky drops all atmosphere and volmetric clouds from the render. I read earlier that you might be looking at a solution?

    Thanks, J
     
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2019
  38. billowe

    billowe

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    Hey Felix! Finally got around to playing with Overcloud and it's great so far, but I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to stop Unity's post-processing AO rendering after Overcloud's atmospheric scattering?

    E.g.
     
  39. benthroop

    benthroop

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    Felix could you give an outline of what would be needed to port Overcloud to HDRP? We're probably going to move to it once it stabilizes and maybe there's a possibility of collaboration to get Overcloud on there. Curious what your thoughts are.
     
  40. Fewes

    Fewes

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    Nice! Love it when people post screens of it in action :)
    No progress on the 360 capture I'm afraid. I'm a bit stumped why it isn't working, but you should be able to use the OverCloudReflectionProbe component to capture the skybox, then use a normal reflection probe on top. Not sure if this is how the recorder works but it might be worth looking into.

    This should be possible by changing when the image effect is rendered. Is this post processing stack V1 or V2?

    First of it would require an understanding of HDRP works, which I personally lack. As most effects are rendered in post, it should definitely be possible, but you would have to have some shader knowledge to get it working. I understand users would like OverCloud to support HDRP, but unfortunately I am quite busy with other projects at the moment so it is not something I can do. I am always up for answering questions however, so if you would like to give a port a shot yourself, I'd be happy to give you any info about the asset you might need.
     
  41. Lars-Steenhoff

    Lars-Steenhoff

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    Does this asset work on Metal or is it pc only?
     
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  42. Rowlan

    Rowlan

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    It appears as if I'm my own shadow with the camera. Is there a way to prevent this? Looks like this on an empty scene, the black disc on the bottom moves with me, i exaggerated the effects to make this problem more visible. Most noticable when you're close to the terrain:

    shadow.jpg

    Unity 2019.2.5f1.

    It's also in the demo scene, the black area on the ground isn't from the clouds:

    demo.jpg

    Main problem is that depending on the light it darkens everything, here the trees in the foreground shouldn't be dark:

    area.jpg
     
    Last edited: Sep 21, 2019
  43. transat

    transat

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    I really miss Overcloud since I switched to the lightweight/universal pipeline. :-( When URP gets deferred lighting, would you consider a port @Fewes ?
     
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  44. Rowlan

    Rowlan

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    @Fewes Is the example scene here available? I tried similar and am curious about how you did it:

     
  45. Fewes

    Fewes

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    I'm not sure where Metal is at compatibility wise, but the only hard requirement for OverCloud to run is compute shaders and camera depth textures, so if those are supported I am guessing it will work.

    Looks like this could be a problem with the cloud shadows. If you disable automatic injection of the shadows under Lighting > Cloud Shadows, does it still show up?

    Not likely unfortunately. Besides supporting OverCloud I have a lot of other work currently. Sorry.

    That video is very old compared to the actual asset. It used different methods of rendering, hence why it looks so different. Getting the exact same result with the released Asset is not possible, but getting a better result should be (depending on your opinion of what is better is of course). Is there a particular look you are going for?
     
  46. Rowlan

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    Found it. I didn't replace the deferred shader. The disc was the maximum shadow distance.

    Yeah, I was going for the dramatic look you have in there. But that was also a problem with the deferred shader replacement. Thank you very much for your help!
     
  47. Rowlan

    Rowlan

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  48. Rowlan

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    A few comments / wishes after checking out OverCloud:

    • put the OverCloud prefab into a prefab folder instead of the OverCloud root folder

    • the selection of the active preset is by typing it's name, it should be a list selection. There is already similar with the Layers selection in OverCloud, maybe use that one

    • copying presets would be handy

    • I got a multiple instances error, even though one of the instances was disabled, maybe adapt the check

    • I regularly got an index out of bounds exception with the Broken preset. I traced it to be related to the custom floats array lengths. Initially all worked very well, but then at some point the array of Broken was set to 0 instead of 2 like the other Presets, no idea when that happened, I was only using the settings in the Inspector; then the lerp function fails

    • different play speed for day and night cycle would be nice; definition in minutes, i. e. how many minutes day and how many minutes night will be shown

    • random weather changes would be nice

    • no idea how one can generate lightning; I set Interval Min to 1 and Interval Max to 5, Lightning Chance to 1. In my opinion it should have fired almost constantly; at least I tried to force lightning, but it didn't fire up

    • lightning in the distance might be nice

    • performance suffered severly during a build whereas in play mode it was okay. Actually the performance was at 60fps, but the movement suffered. No idea what that was about, it was smoother in the editor. I tried Unity 2019.2.6f1 and 2019.2.3f1; hence the video above was recorded in the Unity Editor in play mode instead of in a build; need to trace that problem

    • the wind timescale would require a "Play in Editor", similar to the Time Of Day setting; or bind the wind timescale to that setting

    • main problem: This asset is already outdated because no SRP support is planned. Even Unity says one should switch to Universal Render Pipeline. I hope this gets reconsidered :)

    • personally I'd prefer if this were a clouds only solution which can be attached to other environmental assets which contain snow and aura and what not; the clouds are just awesome

    • multiple volumetric cloud layers would be nice

    • an additional demo scene with a Unity terrain would be nice; currently there's only a super big mesh terrain scene and it gets a tad tricky when you configure OverCloud for small terrains

    • please add Wind movement of trees
     
    Last edited: Sep 22, 2019
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  49. one_one

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    Also keeping my fingers crossed for an HDRP version, particularly because it's coming out of preview by 2019.3
     
  50. tirarex

    tirarex

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    There is no support for volumetric clouds in VR, they simply are not displayed, although they work in 2D and the editor.
     

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