Scion - Filmic Post Processing

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Scion is a post processing pack. It is a bunch of image effects molded into a single asset, using cross dependencies to increase performance. Combining image effects heavily reduces bandwidth costs of post processing and is standard practice in the industry.

Asset Store link
http://u3d.as/content/jove-software/scion-filmic-post-processing​

Demo link
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/233290703/Scion_1.3_Demo.zip


The Blacksmith demo from Unity, using Scion instead of Standard Assets
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- Virtual Camera Simulation
What we are really trying to do is mimic the appearance of Hollywood films. A film is created using cameras. A camera is not controlled by settings such as "blur amount" and "length of focus". A (Scion) camera is controlled by a few variables.

- The Camera Variables

• F-Number
• Focal Length
• ISO
• Shutter Speed
• Focal Plane

Mimicking the behavior of a real camera allows for super realistic post processing.
Focal Length is the only variable that is always user set. Kind of. If you want to be completely accurate you will let Scion derive it from the Field of View of the camera, but in order to ensure some artistic freedom you can decouple them and specify it manually as well.

- Automatic Exposure
At the core of everything sits the Automatic Exposure algorithm. It has four different modes.

• Auto Priority - Automatically calculates all camera variables. The only thing that is potentially user set is the Focal Plane (this can also be automatically calculated)
• Aperture Priority - Automatically calculates all camera variables but the F-Number. Useful if you want to maintain more control over the amount of out of focus blur.
• Manual Configuration - Allows you to manually specify all the values. Useful for setting up artistic shots when you want full control. Kind of unwieldy for an actual game, but can be done as well if lighting does not vary too much.

Automatic exposure means your game will always be exposed in a good manner. When moving to a dark location the camera adapts, slowly compensating. How slowly depends on user settings.

So what image effects are in Scion?

- Depth of Field
Heavily optimized Depth of Field using state of the art technology. Unlike traditional Depth of Field effects, it is not controlled by arbitrary values such as "blur amount" or "focus length". It is instead based on what is known as the This Lens Equation, to mimic the way light enters a real aperture. So to increase the out of focus effect, you would reduce the F Number of the camera.
There are three ways to control the focal plane of the camera. The focal plane is the distance from the camera that is completely in focus, while everything closer or further away is out of focus (it is however potentially so little out of focus that you cannot tell).

• Manual Distance - Manually specifies the focal plane. Similar to how most Depth of Fields effects work
• Automatic Calculation - Allows you to specify a point on the screen (in [0,1] coordinates, so 0.5 is the center) and a range. The focal plane is then a weighted average of every pixel inside this range. This is the default setting.
• Manual Range - Manually specifies the focal plane with a range offset. The range offset forces every pixel within that range to be in focus.

- Chromatic Aberration
A fast chromatic aberration effect built into the main effects pass.

- Vignette
A fast vignette effect built into the main effects pass.

- Grain
A fast grain effect built into the main effects pass.

- Bloom
A physically based bloom effect. It lacks a thresholding pass and therefore does not get rid of energy like old school bloom effects would. The input image is filtered to remove small bright spots that would otherwise cause flickering and blowouts. These pixels are typically known as fireflies, flashing in and out of a moving render due to aliasing.

- Lens Flares
A dynamic post process lens flare algorithm. In short, the algorithm works by downsampling the source image and then using two different techniques to produce ghosts and a halo. The texture is then optionally run through a hexagonal blur and then combined with the final image in the combination pass.

- Lens Dirt
The Lens Dirt effect modulates the appearances of the bloom and the lens flares. It allows you to use a texture to alter the appearance of said effects, simulating the effect of a dirty lens.

- Tonemapping
Tonemapping is the process of taking HDR values [0,infinity] and moving them inside the [0,1] range for display on your screen. Tonemapping and exposure are two different features, one does not replace the other rather they complement each other.
Scion will let you choose between 4 different tonemapping algorithms as well as setting the white point. The white point is the value, after exposure is applied, that will become white in the tonemapping process. The four tonemapping algorithms available are

• Filmic
• Reinhard
• Luma Reinhard
• Photographic

- Color Grading
Scion has support for converting LUTs compatible with the following three solutions:

• Unity
• AmplifyColor
• Chromatica

Color grading is nearly free when combined with other effects, as is the case in Scion. Scion supports a single LUT or a blend between two LUT's.

The algorithm auto focuses without the need for any user interaction​

Using Scion - Filmic Post Processing

Using Standard Assets​

- FAQ

• I don't like one of these effects! Can I turn it off? It is possible to turn off every image effect independently of the others. You can even turn off the virtual camera all together, removing exposure. You will still have to feed the depth of field the camera variables though.

• What is the point of combining stuff? Is it faster? Yes, it is a lot faster. When combining effects like this, something like grain or vignette becomes nearly free. Turning it off does not win you a single frame per second. Also, many expensive operations such as downsampling or calculating averages can be shared between passes. You gain a lot of bandwidth improvement by merging stuff. More accurate numbers are coming later but I can already say that Scion is a lot faster than using the same effects from the Standard Assets, while maintaining far higher quality.
  The viking village above runs faster on Scion than it does on the default Standard Assets post process setup.

• Does this work on OpenGL and DX9? It works fine on both DX9 and OpenGL since patch 1.1

• Does this work on forward and deferred? Yes.

• Is this compatible with other image effects? Yes.

• How long does it take to setup? Drag and drop. Around 10 seconds if you let it automatically calculate most things and are happy with the default bloom/chromatic aberration/vignette/grain settings. All the screenshots use the default settings with Scion automatically calculating all variables.

• What will it cost? 60$

• Will this be patched? Yes it will. Color grading and lens flares have been added so far and other effects will follow.

• I can't find the Asset Store link https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/41369

• I can't find the demo link https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/233290703/Scion_1.3_Demo.zip

 

Some performance comparison would be very interesting to see.

 

Yes. And some videos too.

 

Both are coming, unfortunately I'm moving tomorrow so it can potentially take some time I've made a last humongous push to get it to release before it's time to be without the internet. The package has now been submitted to the asset store.
I can say that on my computer, GTX 560ti, the post process takes on average 3-3.5ms. Below is another comparison, this time no post process vs Scion. Both are using anti aliasing from the Standard Assets as well. If you are questioning why the bottom one is so dark, it's because I didn't notice it setting up the scene. When you have automatic exposure stuff like that is not a concern anymore.

 

Awesome. Looking forward to it.

 

Going to update the first post with a link when it has been accepted to the Asset Store. I chose the price of 50$ as the initial price, likely to rise slightly when motion blur makes it in.


Here is a screenshot of the UI, as it looks with the default settings. For example, if you change to exposure mode to Aperture Priority a F Number slider appears. The beauty of this approach is that it keeps the settings... approachable. There is no explosion of a million variables that requires hours to learn. If you have the slightest knowledge of cameras you can tweak it to your hearts leisure within seconds. Without camera knowledge you might need a few minutes

 

gorgeous. beautiful.. want it now.

 

Gonna repost here what I got from @ZedalisDesign in a PM. He has been testing Scion a bit for me.

 

Okay, this looks kinda fantastic.

 

Looks fantastic and really looking forward to it!

 

I have been waiting for someone to put out an image effect plugin that incorporates a lot of different effects, making the process more efficient.

 

As a long time Jove (which includes a lot of these effects as part of its pipeline) user I can say that @Aieth definitely knows his stuff. His work probably isn't as well known as some on the asset store but I really think he has taken a step in the right direction developing a post-processing solution like Scion to fill the gap for those that don't want to go all they way to a completely different rendering pipeline.

 

Could the dirt screen fx be tweakable for vr? Have the ability to move it forward and back in space....

 

Im not sure I follow what you mean. The dirt is a screen space effect, do you mean making it in such a way that it would appear like youve got a visor, so that the dirt on the two separate eyes/cameras overlap? As opposed to looking like the same dirt just applied separately to each eye?

 

Yeah, thats it. Good point, would need to be world space. Just throwing the idea out there... thanks

 

Its def not impossible, just requires some algebra which should be fairly cheap. Just want to make sure Im understanding what you are asking

 

great! that would be cool...been looking for a nice subtle dirt glass vibe around me for certain moments...
Thanks

 

@Aieth any plans for color correction in Scion? Even something simple like a LUT-based approach (similar to amplify color or chromatica)? Or is that one of those post effects that doesn't re-use anything from previous passes and would be just as cheap to slap something like amplify color on the camera?

This is looking fantastic btw, I'm a day-one purchase. I've been frustrated by the 'standard post effect stack' in unity for a long time, glad somebody is finally doing something about it!

 

This looks rather fantastic - count me in, combined post is the future.

Re: Colour correction - yes please! anything that's combined anything really but first lets let the poor guy get it out of the door

 

I'm thinking about a pretty scene now. Well, i do have UBER to pimp and VR people to impress...

 

Look, it's simple. You get out your wallet and you take stuff out and you give it to Aieth. In return he makes your game look twice as good.

 

And I don't mean moths.

 

I am definitly interested.

Is that dx11 only or mac and linux are welcome ?

SMAA ? ( http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/smaa-for-unity-subpixel-morphological-aliasing.201241/ )

 

I prefer to pay in prettiness if i can

 

Re: colour correction if it happens - it would be nice to use LUTs from chromatica studio as that's just so nice to use since its in-unity rather than hopping back and forth. It probably generates the standard LUT images anyway (haven't checked).

 

chromatica's LUTs are identical to Amplify Color's so I'm guessing both are using some kind of standard

 

It's just I'm so excited. Finally someone heard the calling and knew they had to make something yebis-like and special so that our console titles can be borne aloft on angelic wings with choir-like music.

Would like more screenshots

 

I kind of wish I hadn't seen what Yebis 2 can do (integrated into Substance Painter). Holy ****. The bloom/lens flare stuff is on a whole other level.

Anyway, I'd also like to see integrated color grading and currently use Amplify Color. Amplify Color has a handy feature where you can mask out areas that don't get color grading - not sure if something like that would be in scope for Scion, assuming it does get a LUT feature at some point.

 

Color grading is an obvious candidate. It is however not a post effect I have touched before, so I am unfamiliar with the workflows associated (shader wise it's extremely simple, it's the useful GUI that's tricky).

On my computer (GTX 560ti) Scion costs 3ms in 1920x1200 resolution during this scene.


The GUI has changed slightly now. This is the, and I'm at least fairly sure of it, final version.

 

Please add some features for the camera. (Like this one from another asset)

 

you do realize this isn't a post effect right? what would be the point of adding this feature to a post-processing pack? You could just buy that other asset and use it in conjunction with Scion...

 

Maybe because i have this other asset and i'm not really happy with and i'm looking for an anohter solution (since the tiling can also be obtained with a post effect). Maybe....
So, yes i realize.

Thanks for the (patronizing) reply.

 

In my case, I wouldn't need much of a GUI. Just a way to tell the shader which LUT to use. I know there are some fancy color grading assets that let you author LUT's right in Unity, but that wouldn't be my expectation necessarily in an all-in-one post effects asset. Creating LUT's in Photoshop works for me.

 

I think that is a little out of scope for Scion. Projection matrices are a whole other can of worms, one I would prefer to steer clear of as it creates issues with everything that relies on position reconstruction from depth

That, I could however do. It wouldn't be a lot of work to add. Gonna note that as a candidate for the first patch, I have to draw the line somewhere or I'm never gonna get this out. Iterating on the effects already in have taken me to RC6, I intended to go to RC2 at most

 

I agree with @Steve Tack, no GUI is really needed- it's easy to make LUTs in photoshop (or GIMP or anything else). In fact the only thing Amplify Color does is implement the photoshop API to enable app-to-app messages, which is totally overkill. As long as we know what you're using as a neutral color table, we can use the neutral color table to make color adjustments right in photoshop sans GUI

UE4 has some good information on this, as they only do color correction through LUTs:
https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/Engine/Rendering/PostProcessEffects/ColorGrading/index.html

 

Some performance numbers I would like to share if people want,
GPU is a HD4000, with 64mb of vram, some i5 cpu (pretty sure this is more gpu dependant)
So in a simple test scene, 86 drawcalls, 70k tris. Scripts for character controller and many other functions are included.
With no effects we are getting around 72 fps (13.8 ms), thats no scion or standard unity.

With unity effects, same as present in scion, i'm getting an average of 26 fps (38.5 ms)
With scion, all effects on with high quality DOF, i'm getting an average of 36fps (27.8 ms)
With scion, all effects on with normal quality DOF, i'm getting an average of 40fps (25 ms)
With scion, all effects on with no DOF, i'm getting an average of 55fps (18.1 ms)

So from the results Scion is a lot faster than unity (around 11ms faster), results are +- 3 fps I would say since I was moving around the scene a bit. Scion also looks a lot better (not picture worthy, but looks a lot nicer , I have Scion becuase of Jove if you're wondering)

My rig as stated by other people before is not very game worthy, but it's what I have at the moment being away from my main computer which has a lot beefier specs.

 

Somehow missed this post. Currently its DX9 and DX11. OpenGL support is coming, I had some issues with it. I'm going to look at AA, but likely not any time soon.

 

Here's an executable demo for those interested
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/233290703/Scion_Demo.rar

Get it before my dropbox reaches its bandwidth limit

 

gettings about 20fps at 1080p on my 2015 razer blade (which has a 970M in it) with scion turned off, only drops to about 15fps with scion enabled. i would have expected both to be higher (given that this laptop can run MKX at 30fps), but it's a unity demo scene so maybe not so surprising

key takeaway is that i only took a 5fps hit for enabling scion and it looked a lot better!

 

So Jove comes with Scion? if not then do I have to contact author showing invoice id to get this?

Thanks.

 

Looks good Aieth

In my opinion, the only things missing are AA and Color Grading, and then this will be complete (with a few other feature additions to the existing effects later on)

I took some screenshots with the FPS counter if anyone is interested (i7 4790K, GTX 970, 16GB RAM @ 1600MHz) :

On: Off:
On: Off:

 

Other way around Scion comes with Jove, just ask Aieth with your invoice for Jove and he'll hook you up

 

I've made a few edits to my scenes and will be more than happy to post some screenshots when I get off work, to anybody who may be interested. Needless to say, Scion is probably the closest thing to a "Make Beautiful" button as I've ever seen haha. Really looking forward to the future additions/renditions of this asset!

 

Id be interested in seeing screenshots

 

Here's a few screenshots! Sorry for the delay!

 

@Z43D
That first screenshot looks amazeballs

EDIT: Can I get you to post a comparison of Scion on and off?

 

@Z43D hell yes amazeballs!!

Love it !! more screen shots please.. and do tell when your game is released.. I wan tot play

 

Whoa. This looks incredible. Exactly the kind of thing I'd like to be using in my dioramas. Very much looking forward to this being released.

and +1 for @HeadTrip's suggestion.

edit: my Unite talk would also be summarised as "Just buy Scion. Ok, bye."

 

Looks very cool

 

And Scion is now available on the asset store. Updating the first post with a link and also posting it here
https://www.assetstore.unity3d.com/en/#!/content/41369