The IQGamer Crysis 2 demo analysis is on its way. But in the meantime I suggest you take a look at the video below. It’s a rather impressive demonstration of global illumination using the CryEngine 3 – using multiple light bounces rather than just one!
All the shadows and lighting, along with the actual rendering is being performed in real time. Although there is no in-direct shadowing taking place, there are other neat touches, such as diffuse shadows and HDR. You can also get a brief glance of CryEngine 3’s day/night lighting cycle.
Similar things can be done using pre-backed alternatives, which are obviously static – not great for scenes with noticeable changes in the lighting cycle - but cost far less, especially if baked directly onto textures themselves. Unreal Engine 3’s Lightmass solution springs to mind. It’s good alternative for games which feature a fixed sun position, relying on many local, dynamic lights to create a similar effect.
Crysis 2 uses a single bounce form of real-time global illumination: it's clearly visible in the Xbox 360 demo. But more on that shortly.
Are you sure about the reatime GI lighting being done in this video?
ReplyDeleteThe youtube description show no hint of this, and I find the lighting very static, except for the moving light/shadow from minute 1:20, that does not seems to have global impact on lighting, but I may be wrong...
rotoglup
ReplyDeleteMoving light and shadows->dynamic lighting.
You can clearly see the color bleeding effect - light bouncing off the floor onto the columns. As global light moves the effect is changing - some of the columns change color due to bleeding effect and some not. It's a clear sign of the realtime GI.