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I thought i would share this as i found this a good read ,
We all know what 3D graphics are - length, width & depth, but how many know what 4D graphics are? If you are one of the millions of people thinking 'What the %&$* are 4D graphics?', don't be alarmed. You've already seen them. Shocking isn't it? We all remember Kutaragi proclaiming not too long ago that PS3 would utilize 4D graphics, but what exactly did he mean?
4D, from a developer’s point of view, is is the progression of Life in time. It is where every tangible object in your game is living and constantly changing. As a result, change becomes an integral part of 4D graphics.
But how does all of this become possible? The answer is the dynamic rendering of procedural textures. Sounds complicated, but it's not. Let me explain; Procedural textures are textures which are linked to an algorithm. Instead of the texture being drawn pixel by pixel, you define the way these pixels have to be lit to produce the texture you want.
When the procedural texture is placed somewhere, you utilize an engine for actually generating these bitmap textures. They have life. They can change in a way you define them, especially through time. In a lot of the current games, the randomized textures method is used. Developers use one bitmap and just map it on randomly in the environment to create the design for that specific area. Every texture is not defined or unique. So, the method to create procedural textures allows for more control.
Allegorithmic is a utility set which allows an extensive realization of procedural textures. With it you define the procedures way using MaPZone, and then use ProFX to rasterize the images, producing the final result to be displayed by a renderer or a game engine.
Read The Rest Of This Article At: http://www.psu.com/4D-Graphics--A-Reality-Only-For-PlayStation-3--a1063-p0.php
We all know what 3D graphics are - length, width & depth, but how many know what 4D graphics are? If you are one of the millions of people thinking 'What the %&$* are 4D graphics?', don't be alarmed. You've already seen them. Shocking isn't it? We all remember Kutaragi proclaiming not too long ago that PS3 would utilize 4D graphics, but what exactly did he mean?
4D, from a developer’s point of view, is is the progression of Life in time. It is where every tangible object in your game is living and constantly changing. As a result, change becomes an integral part of 4D graphics.
But how does all of this become possible? The answer is the dynamic rendering of procedural textures. Sounds complicated, but it's not. Let me explain; Procedural textures are textures which are linked to an algorithm. Instead of the texture being drawn pixel by pixel, you define the way these pixels have to be lit to produce the texture you want.
When the procedural texture is placed somewhere, you utilize an engine for actually generating these bitmap textures. They have life. They can change in a way you define them, especially through time. In a lot of the current games, the randomized textures method is used. Developers use one bitmap and just map it on randomly in the environment to create the design for that specific area. Every texture is not defined or unique. So, the method to create procedural textures allows for more control.
Allegorithmic is a utility set which allows an extensive realization of procedural textures. With it you define the procedures way using MaPZone, and then use ProFX to rasterize the images, producing the final result to be displayed by a renderer or a game engine.
Read The Rest Of This Article At: http://www.psu.com/4D-Graphics--A-Reality-Only-For-PlayStation-3--a1063-p0.php
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Garin wrote:
> Its not. Its a highly biased article.
are you implying that playstation has fanboys? :D
> Its not. Its a highly biased article.
are you implying that playstation has fanboys? :D
also, if you look at the bayou demo video, although the texture set looks pretty good and is extremely resource efficient, there ARE problems with it.
when you rapidly change a seed value on a procedural map, it can result in a sweeping, wave look, which isn`t always what`s needed. this is very noticeable a number of times in rain impacts on the demo video.
another thing is that some of the uses in that demo won`t be as essential as they make out. although procedurals are very useful, like anything, they have their limitations and a set of custom maps will often produce better results for a lot of objects.
when you rapidly change a seed value on a procedural map, it can result in a sweeping, wave look, which isn`t always what`s needed. this is very noticeable a number of times in rain impacts on the demo video.
another thing is that some of the uses in that demo won`t be as essential as they make out. although procedurals are very useful, like anything, they have their limitations and a set of custom maps will often produce better results for a lot of objects.
Its not. Its a highly biased article.
Why, as the title says, is this exclusive to PS3?
it will all go real time eventually i`d imagine, but at present, overdoing dynamic lighting simply makes the game work harder than it needs to.
the level lighting will usually be done with as many lights as is needed, and then each oject has a light map rendered for it which defines the pre-rendered shadows' behaviour. Dynamic lights will then be used for game elements (a flare for example) to cast the ingame RT shadows. the trouble with dynamic lights is that the shadows tend to be far too solid, so until they can be made more convincing and be solved much faster, the balance between baked and dymanic lighting will remain i`d say.
note - i`m an animator, not a lighting artist, so this isn`t my area of expertise, it`s just as much as i know at this point.
the level lighting will usually be done with as many lights as is needed, and then each oject has a light map rendered for it which defines the pre-rendered shadows' behaviour. Dynamic lights will then be used for game elements (a flare for example) to cast the ingame RT shadows. the trouble with dynamic lights is that the shadows tend to be far too solid, so until they can be made more convincing and be solved much faster, the balance between baked and dymanic lighting will remain i`d say.
note - i`m an animator, not a lighting artist, so this isn`t my area of expertise, it`s just as much as i know at this point.
Emotion Engine!!1!!
Yep, sounds like sales patter.
And it's the whole graphics vs games debate. Interesting to note that there's been a mixed response down the years to console systems with better graphics outselling those with better games...
If you can get great games + great graphics + new original ideas, that's when you're on to a winner.
And it's the whole graphics vs games debate. Interesting to note that there's been a mixed response down the years to console systems with better graphics outselling those with better games...
If you can get great games + great graphics + new original ideas, that's when you're on to a winner.
As interesting as that is, calling it 4d graphics is a little bit of a lie.
hehe! Windows Media Player's visualisations on buildings in GTA5!
You've got to love marketing spin. On the PC its procedural textures. Put the same thing on the PS3 and its 4D Graphics! :)
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