[ON $20 FIXED PRICE SALE!✅]Sky Master ULTIMATE: Sky, Ocean, Volume Clouds-lighting, Weather, RTGI

WIP on the new volumetric clouds system, i am close to the next real time demo as well which should be available next week.

Sky Master ULTIMATE is on -45% sale !!! ($49 vs $90 original price), for a limited time.

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​

 

Sweet thank you!

Yeah I'm using 5.6 for this project.

 

Volumetric light intensity, the big intensity (e.g. 0.4) should be used for thicker clouds with shadows, as clouds open up or vanish for clear sky it is recommended to regulate this lower (e.g. near 0.1 value). In next version there will also be an option to automatically set the intensity and color for various times of day and cloud densities.

Scaling of shadow plane to avoid bug in Unity 5.6 with big object shadow casting. The issue will also be handled by adding a spherical dome instead of a plane for shadowing specificlly for Unity 5.6 case.

Unity 5.6 has an isue with shadows of very large objects (which seems to be a general issue, independetly of Sky master, the same was not happening in Unity 5.3.2f1 which i use for development of assets)

So in the main demo (v3.4.3 one) the clouds shadow plane will not cast shadows properly due to its size. This also affects the volumetric lighting system, as it may seem too bright since there is no shadowing.

As a first step you may want to regulate the brighness lower when cloud density and shadows are less (when you need the rays only for mountains case for example), this is done with "Volume sun shafts intensity" slider in camera FX section. I recommend a value of 0.1 for general use (without cloud shadowing). You may also regulate color and height, plus distance from camera variables in the same section (make sure to do small changes to see how it affects the effect)

To see the cloud shadows in the demo in Unity 5.6 (which has a new shadow system which causes some issues when the objects are big in size), find the Cloud (108) plane in the active clouds layer (parented inside SHADER VOLUME CLOUDS -> "FLAT HIGHER QUAD BED -- CLOUDS (7) SM30 as SM2(10)" object, will be in the active cloud layer group when you press "Mulit Quad Clouds toggle" in the Configurator which is the main cloud type)

Then for this object put 617,617,617 in scale (instead of 5607,5607,2148), -90,0,0 in rotation (instead of -89,98,0,0) and 0,-80,0 in position (instead of -162,-79.7,-96). This will restore the shadows (like in Unity 5.3.2f1, which did not have issue with big object shadows). The fix applies to the demo, you can use a similar scaling in the shadow layer of the rest of cloud types as well and in other scenes to get the proper effect.

I attach two images, showing the cloud shadows fix and volume light intensity (in the pic is set high to 0.4, this is best for thicker cloud shadows-density). In the next version i will try to add the shadows with a scaled down dome than a plane, which will allow better coverage in lower sun angles as well (i have dome used in one of the cloud types as well).

If you are using the new shader clouds, you can also disable the player follow and camera follow in "SHADER VOLUME CLOUDS" object -> "Cloud Handler SM" script, with the first three checkboxes.

 

WIP on new volumetric clouds system (focused on cutting edge effect combined with multiple optimizations to speed it up and polish it, which is as always the focus of the system)

Currently i am working on addressing some issues on the edges of clouds and land, which is already solved and adding control variables to adjust the effect.

Sky Master ULTIMATE is on -45% sale !!! ($49 vs $90 original price), for a limited time.

Enjoy ​

 

That is what I'm waiting for! Fantastic!
I felt that it is nonsense to adjust both of intensity and gradations.
Both affect final result deeply, but I don't know which prevent me from approaching goal.
Which one would automated I can focus on adjusting gradation of color and tint.

By the way, what the difference of color and tint for this asset? I cannot figure out true difference of those param.
Personally I thought that color meaning "color & brightness", and tint meaning "Hue & saturation", but it seems wrong.
Would you tell me what is purpose of them in your assets?

 

Which module is this refering to ? Usually if i have color and tint, means color is the main color (e.g. the original color) and tint a tint over this color (as an offset from a norm)

 

Sky Master ULTIMATE water made it to the first page , very cool stuff

 

Thanks for the scaling info for 5.6 nasos! I appreciate it...

Congrats on front page exposure too!

 

I'm accustomed to using After Effect and other composition tools.
I cannot figure out how does it works because tint is unfamiliar word for me.
(Perhaps because tint is not word of mother tongue language. I'm using other words for explain that, I think.)

Is it composited additive or multiplied or overlayed?
I want know what is main benefit for separating two gradations.

PS

Congratulations for featured your asset by Unity official!


edited:

It seems that Hue and Tint are similar but Tint affect not only RGB but white as far as I investigated.
According that, tint is affecting not only hue & saturation but also brightness of sky & clouds color?


edited2:
Now I figured out why I confused by word "Tint".
Because here are no concept nor word for exact expressing "Tint" but may being deconstructed to Hue, saturation,brightness/ luminance , in my country...

 

I think officially tint means mix with white, but since the mixing is done with a full color spectrum can be channel variable as to how much white goes to each channel (since the input is a 3 channel color than a single value)

If the tint color is set to grey scale, then you get the formal tint, but since i allow all colors you can incline the color towards another in variable measure, which can be usefull (e.g. for moving the color to more reddish tones in autumn etc)

 

Thank you replying!

I see. "tint gradation" is simply offsetting color like you said.
And now I understood that it is prepared for that tweak sky color changing by seasons or some reasons.

If it so that, are you recommending that tint color set to grey (R128G128B128) or black (R0G0B0) when creating basic sky color of day/night?

 

A mid value of grey (R128G128B128) will keep the terrain in its base color and lower or higher in grey scale will increase or decrease brightness.

 

WIP on the new volumetric clouds (InfiniCLOUD module)

 

Thank you Nasos! That is what I wanted to clarify.

Well, how about set up "gray" as default tint gradation? Tint gradation has setted up to "white" as default, and "black" on demo scene.
According to your info, It is meaning that sky color would be "tinted" or "shaded(RGB + black)" compared to color which user setted up, I think.

By the way, I'd appreciate it if you could do it, could you make "culling" option to the weather effect?
If I could make scene that show weather effect from inside room it could be very nice.

PS.

Thanks to share WIP. I cannot wait it come to us!

 

I will check to make tint default options more neautral overall, as a first step.

About the weather occlusion, the Snow-Rain particles can be setup with colliders (e.g. house roof plane or global colliders) to limit the effect using the Shuriken system. The volumetric lighting (new module in Sky Master ULTIMATE v3.4) is also shadow occlusion sensing, so you have the sun beams filter through windows, like in the GI proxy video above

The lightining is dynamic and hits only the objects tagged as "Conductor", so moving those outside buildings will create lighting outside only.

Let me know if there is any other effect you would like to limit to outside only, to help with

 

Many thank you for continuous supporting!

Oh, now I understood why lightning appeared in inside my scene. That mean, "Conductor" tag is not recommended attaching to moving object for now, right?

It is low priority request, if it could be auto generating Conductor to the most height object around the player using ray-trace from cloud layer it would make interesting effect. Of course it is "if it could be" because it might be weight to the performance.

 

I will evaluate auto creation as well, would be a nice idea to have as option (or at least adjustment of the default Conductors on ground etc)

You can use the lighting on moving objects, though needs tweaking so it goes fast enough to not seem to drag along with the object.

 

WIP on the new volumetric clouds system (InfiniCLOUD). The horizon can be adjusted dynamically on the fly as needed.

Sky Master ULTIMATE is on -45% sale !!! ($49 vs $90 original price), for a limited time.

Enjoy ​

 

Another addition to FAQs, that concerns RTP script included with the system.

Q: The included RPT script does not work and produces an error or game does not build (in RPT v3.3g)
A: RPT latest version has done some changes (the script used v3.3c), so in Sky Master RPT script (SkyMasterRTPConctroller.cs), comment out lines 70 and 113 that call the _targetRT.Update(); method, this will solve the issue and allow the game to run and build.

I will do an update for the script for the latest RTP version for next verson as well.

 

WIP on new volume clouds system

 

WIP on new volume clouds system

Sky Master ULTIMATE is on -45% sale !!! ($49 vs $90 original price), for a limited time.

Enjoy ​

 

Hey Nasos how well does this work with Mega Splats? any idea?

 

Sky Master should not have an issue, as the terrain handling is optional and only one module related to it (if my terrain material is used, which is not compatible with Mega Splat)

InfiniGRASS system reads splats from Unity terrain, though i plan to extend later for other system in v2.xcycle, but this wont be in initial release.

 

Details on the next Sky Master update (last update before the upcoming major 3.5 version)

Sky Master ULTIMATE v3.4.8:
- Fixed issue where maxnighttime variable was not applied to sun-moon change time (for non lat/lon system transitions)
- Added maxnightangle for regulating sun-moon transition in sky shader in latitude/lngitude system
- added support for in game instantiation of camera, in SeasonalTERRAINSKYMASTER and WaterHandlerSM scripts.
- Changed tree materials grab to produce less GC allocation in SeasonalTerrainSKYMASTER script
- Fixed issue where volumetric lighting would flicker under some conditions at game start in Unity 5.4+
- Regulated cloud shadow layer for Unity 5.6 shadows (in big objects) bug

The update is currently tested extensively and will be submitted soon.

Sky Master ULTIMATE is on -45% sale !!! ($49 vs $90 original price), for a limited time.

Enjoy ​

 

Sky Master ULTIMATE is on -45% sale !!! ($49 vs $90 original price), Last Day !!

The original price will be submitted to the store tomorrow.

Enjoy ​

 

Looking good nasos

 

Thanks

I had also a few requests on VR usage of the new clouds, and i think i can do a mode to render half the resolution from each camera and blend the result, which would help a lot in VR performance.

 

Sky Master ULTIMATE is on -45% sale !!! ($49 vs $90 original price), Last Few Hours !!

The original price has been submitted to the store and pending review.

Enjoy ​

 

Volumetric gradient fog used with InfiniGRASS v2.0 for adding depth to the scene.

Sky Master ULTIMATE volumetric fog works directly with the new grass shaders in InfiniGRASS v2.0 and the new batched billboard system and shaders.

Sky Master ULTIMATE is on -45% sale !!! ($49 vs $90 original price), Offer Extended !!​

The original price has been submitted, though has not yet been reviewed by the store, so the offer is extended for this weekend !!!​

Enjoy ​

 

UPDATE of WIP:

I have added a few more items for v3.4.8
- Added weather Randomizer script (attach to SkyMasterManager script object). This can be used as a scripting guide for controlling the system's weather in detail.
- Changed the +0.1 offset in Shader Clouds script color lerp functions to happen only in editor time (as it affected real time cloud color transition which happened very fast)
- Fixed issue with latest RTP version (RTP controller Update() function no longer exists)

New volumetric clouds for v4.0 WIP
The new volumetric clouds system now has also an image based manipulation mode that can create extra variation in clouds formations, so they can cover cases where clouds form in horizon only or certain spots.

Pics and video of the new system will follow soon.

 

All these version numbers are starting to confuse me.

A new version was posted in the store on May 15th, 3.4.7 - is this version stable? Is this the latest version?

I ask because last night I removed SkyMaster from our project because all I could get is a gray sky/fog and the day/night cycle appeared to be broken because the gray was about the same brightness all the time.

I need to determine today if a clean install will allow me to get the results you are showing above in the images.

 

Hi,

Yes, v3.4.7 is the latest and stable version. The next one i am working on is v3.4.8, though v3.4.7 is working fine and you should not see a grey sky. Please let me know for more details on how the setup was done and which Unity version is used to try and determine what might be the cause.

Also does the grey sky happen in my demos as well ? Or only when setting up the system in a new scene ?

I also have a quick setup guide using a prefab i inlcude for new scenes (video attached below, created using v3.4.7), if this is followed do you get a grey sky as well ?

 

I will use the guide and let you know.

 

Also have a look at the below section from the FAQs

Q: Sky rendering is not correct or changes suddenly (or is dark or reddish) when camera is in big heights.
A: Enable in the Sky section the option "Sun system follows player" checkbox (under define player button). If the volumetric lighting module in CameraFX section is used, for higher heights regulate the "Lower Horizon Fog Amount" to near zero, the higher value (e.g. 3 in the demo) may produce a darker sky in higher heights.

And another thing to consider is lowering the volumetric gradient fog height, if this is used (this one is auto regulated for height based on weather as well when the default presets system is used, e.g. will raise higher on rain weather). There is also a new control option for the volume gradient fog enabled in the CameraFX section checkbox, which uses direct parameters and curves to control the fog per time of day (instead of the presets system), this is an easier option to directly affect this fog height and properties (the height has both a control curve for time of day and an offset to control the curve whole as needed)

The rest of FAQs is in the first page of forum (link).

 

I just saw your post above, so some items below may go away once I follow the steps

Last night I created five minutes of views - I change weather etc. There are some black screens that is when I changed weather types and did not edit the captures.

What I did:
I dropped the prefab V3.3 with no water into the scene, I followed the instructions at 0 and for the terrains.

The oddest thing, even at night there is a bright area around the camera, I don't see any lights that can account for this light. look at 3:06

When it began raining (3:20) my frame rate dropped to about half... you can see the once smooth movement became jumpy and choppy (15 fps dropped from 80+)

I deleted all the light maps from the previous builds.

Can the Sun be a baked light?
Any advice about how lightmaps and probes should be used?
If you notice the clouds seem close to the ground. - look at about 2 minutes into the video

Any advice would be helpful.

 

I edited the text above so you might want to re-read it..

 

I think the scene would look best using the new volumetric cloud.

To do that, as first step, go to SkyMasterManager and change "Heavy Storm Volume Clouds" and "Day Clear VOlume Clouds" variables to null (remove the default volume particle clouds)

In the configurator "Clouds" section, in Volumetric Clouds, press the "Gradient Coloration" checkbox, the "Add Sample cloud Gradients A" button and then the "Add Shader based volume clouds" button to add the new in v3.4 clouds.

Then refine using the height and Offset Sun and Shadow Difference sliders, and coverage slider.

The default clouds are made to rotate along the camera view, so if you need to disable this mode, in the SHADER VOLUME CLOUDS object, in CloudHandlerSM uncheck the first three boxes and in Configurator clouds section set Rotation slider to zero (than default 6) and refine the lighting with the Offset Sun and Shadow Difference sliders. (or you can just press the 2ond or the last two icons of cloud presets, those have zero rotation as well.

As an extra hint, when adjusting the cloud lighting, start by adjusting the cloud height slider first, then the rest. Also use smaller values for Shadow Difference and Sun Intensity (e.g. -0.09 to 0.09).

About the black clouds for the default volumetric ones, this is when calling the storm weather and the clouds used are the "SETA2_HEAVY_STORM CLOUDS", this is a prefab in the project and you can access it and change the coloration parameters there to get lighter colors (or use another prefab in the Heavy Storm Volume Clouds variable in SkyMasterManager", where the storm clouds are linked to the volume particle clouds prefab). The colors are changed in VolumeClouds_SM script on the prefab, in "Main Color", "Sun Color" and "Global_tint" variables, or the Dawn_sun_col etc colors group if the "Day_cycle" option is turned on (this uses time of day information from SkyMasterManager to change coloration of clouds during various times of day)

The storm clouds prefab colors are set dark by default, you may set them to much lighter tones to get a more mild coloration, if you need to use the older particle clouds (which can be usefull if you want clouds in horizon or vertical formations or fly through or define the cloud shape specifically, the particle clouds allow al those options)

Let me know if these helped and for any more details and help

 

Look what showed up..

Very cool Nasos, very cool

 

Almost there.

1. There is a hard black line that is visible just above the top of the mountains - how can I remove this?

2. I would like to make the distance fog a little denser.

3. After a storm it will not return to a sunny day.
I maybe doing something wrong, I am using the 'current weather drop down' on the Skymaster Manager

 

Looking forward to the image based manipulation mode. That sounds great!

 

About #1, i have a cutoff distance for volumetric lighting that moves to darker tones in background so far mountains are not too bright, this is usefull when shadows do not extend far for example.

The effect is controlled in Camera FX section, with Volume light max distance (sets distance, so if you put too far wont see the line) and "Volume light back intensity" which sets the intensity after the cutoff (so put this a lot higher to make the contrast less for example). In next versions i plan to also put a falloff in the cutoff so the line wont be a cutoff but a smooth boundary.

About #2, the fog density is also affected by distance from camera, so you can try to push the fog further back and increase either density or the height offset (or curve for TOD precision) to get denser fog.

About #3, if you put Cloudy will return to sunny mode but by default has a cloud coverage, so you can adjust this minimum in the CloudHandlerSM script, in "Clear Day Coverage" variable, this is the one the system will revert to in Cloudy weather (e.g. -0.8 will eliminate completly). This can also be scripted in real time for varying the minimal clouds as needed (e.g. lower in sunny, or higher in rain weathers). I will add an extra "Sunny Day Clouds coverage" and "Rainy Day Clouds coverage" variable in next versions to separate this from Cloudy weather (originally i intented of Cloudy weather as a general state where clouds would then be randomized etc) and also may regulate based on Weather severity global variable.. Currently the two states that have separated cloud coverage is the Cloudy and Storm weather (these are assigned automatically the two variables in CloudHandlerSM script.

I will try to put the above two changes in the coming soon v3.4.8 as well, or soon after in v3.4.9

 

The problem appears to be due to atmospheric Scattering Deferred Sky Master Script

Checked:


Unchecked

 

I must have something setup wrong, its just not right.

No matter what I set the settings, I cannot fog out the distance items. The controls are not making any difference.

I have installed this three times, I have followed the instructions and I cannot get it right.

 

The mountains are fogged in the pics, if you need more fog control (e.g. with gradient, height fog etc) you can also use the Volumetric Gradient Fog (instead of Volumetric Lighting with fog or together with it)

You can also enable to control the volumetric gradient fog using sliders and curves using the relevant checkbox in the Camera FX section in the configurator

Also check this video at 2:15 i show the adjustment for the volume gradient fog (new system with curve based controls and offsets)

 

New volumetric cloud WIP for Sky Master v4.0

Image modulation support gives the ability to limit the clouds to certain partis of the sky and create various formations and shape effects (grass and trees created and optimized with InfiniGRASS v2.0)

 

Hi Mazak,

May be I had same problem before.

Simply to say, It is because too bright color has setted up to your fog gradient color.
That is why scene is bright even if in the night time.
Like as nasos mentioning, adjusting volume gradient fog might be solution of this problem, I think.

 

WIP on the new full volumetric cloud system (InfiniGRASS v2.0 used in foliage)

The clouds blend seamlessly with the other volumetric modes (volume gradient fog and volumetic lighting modules)

 

All looking great. I particularly like the lighting as it's got a nice vibrance about it without being over exposed. At least to my eyes.

 

Thanks . The lighting is subletly affected by the new volumetric lighting & shadowing system, so there is a small haze in the atmsophere in light and the shadows region is cleaner, emulating closer to the real atmospheric dust and light interaction (since dust in shadows would not create a full foggy effect as it does not receive light).

 

The WIP on v3.4.8 is almost done, only a few testing remains and the system will soon be available in Google Drive Download

Sky Master ULTIMATE v3.4.8
- Fixed issue where maxnighttime variable was not applied to sun-moon change time (for non lat/lon system transitions)
- Added maxnightangle for regulating sun-moon transition in sky shader in latitude/lngitude system
- added support for in game instantiation of camera, in SeasonalTERRAINSKYMASTER and WaterHandlerSM scripts.
- Changed tree materials grab to produce less GC allocation in SeasonalTerrainSKYMASTER script
- Fixed issue where volumetric lighting would flicker under some conditions at game start
- Add demo with new water blur and new dome shadows, to overcome Unity 5.6 shadowing bugs
- Changed +0.1 offset in Shader Clouds script to happen only in editor time
- Added weather Randomizer and Timer scripts (attach to SkyMasterManager script object)
- Fixed issue with RTP latest version
- Added local lighting to base cloud shader for better lightning effects
- Added extra lerp in water script for ReflColor variable for smoother transitions

Also v3.4.8 will have a Unity 5.4+ version available, that will use only Shuriken particles (done away with all Legacy ones) and has integrated code that removes all Unity 5.4 warnings.