[RELEASED] - Screen Space Area Lights (SSAL)

Hi xenex, just sent you a PM.

 

I've been experimenting with adding SSAL to an Oculus Rift project, however it seems only to support rendering from a single camera. Any thoughts on how I might be able to modify the system to support a multi-camera setup?

 

Hi mstevenson,

this feature is already on our list, since another user also had problems with a two camera setup. However it will probably take a bit until it's implemented, since we are currently deep in crunch on another project. But I'll try to get it done asap.

 

Thanks, glad to hear! SSAL has been working great for me, by the way. It's exactly what I've needing to cheaply simulate GI.

 

Great! If you can share some footage, we would love to see what you have been using our lights for!

 

MPankin,

Can you speak to the performance numbers I'm finding with the lights? Are there optimizations that can be done?

Thanks!

 

Hi QuantumTheory,

sry for the late reply. I'm sure there are certain optimizations, that we can implement, but I really need to think about it first, before I can tell you something more specific. Unfortunately right now we are burning on another project, so I'm afraid it will take a little while. But I will address this, as soon as possible.

Thx for your patience.

 

Any update on a new release?

 

Why are the lights impacting performance when they're not on screen?

 

Yep, I continued working on it today. First item on my list is support for multi camera setups, as this has been requested by a couple of users so far.
After that I will look into improving performance, however this is still a bit shady on what exactly will be implemented, so no specific information on this front so far...

Do you mean lights are being rendered, independent of the respective gameobject being active/inactive? If so, this is fixed.

 

Ok thanks that's what I meant

 

I am getting a "The type or namespace name `UnityEditor' could not be found" error when attempting to build out a test build with nothing but the demo scenes and SSAL. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks!

 

No one else is having this issue? I tried the build with Webplayer, and OS now with the same problem. Please help

 

Hi LeeAllen,

you aren't doing anything wrong. The problem is that in the AreaLightRenderer I currently use the PlayerSettings class from the UnityEditor package. This is necessary cause I need to account for changes in color space (gamma vs. linear). And the UnityEditor package is not available at runtime and that is, what is causing the error. Hm..

Please try the following workaround, while I think about another way of handling the two colorspaces...

1. Open the script AreaLightRenderer.cs
2. Find the line "using UnityEditor;" and change it to "//using UnityEditor;"
3. Find the following lines:
if(PlayerSettings.colorSpace == ColorSpace.Linear)
{
Shader.SetGlobalFloat("_LinearPow", 2.2f);
}
else
{
Shader.SetGlobalFloat("_LinearPow", 1.0f);
}
4. Delete those lines and replace them with:
Shader.SetGlobalFloat("_LinearPow", 1.0f); if you are using gamma colorspace
Shader.SetGlobalFloat("_LinearPow", 1.0f); if you are using linear colorspace

Hope, that helps

 

Hi Guys,

I just uploaded an updated package to the asset store. It includes the following fixes:

• Removed the UnityEditor import from the AreaLightRenderer. Gamma/linear now has to be adjusted manually via a checkbox in AreaLightRenderer component.
• Lights are correctly removed from renderer when destroyed / deactivated.
• New lights are automatically selected and placed in the editor cameras view instead of the origin.
• Specular component can now be activated/deactivated during runtime. Before this was only possible in editor mode.
• Quite a bit of code refactoring cleanup.

This update is meant to provide the patches fixes from the last weeks to users who did not receive them via private message.

Features such as volumetric emitters, custom falloff functions, angle of effect for lights etc. are not included in this release, since they are still in an experimental stage.

We will continue working on other open topics such as support for multi-camera setups, performance improvements etc.

I hope, the review process won't take too long. I'll let you know, when it's available for download.

Have a nice evening.

 

Are you still developing these shadows? Unity definitely needs proper soft shadowing.

 

Yes, we are still working on the shadows. Compared to other open topics, they do have a lower priority, though.

 

Good morning, version 1.06 is online.

 

is now possible make a spheric area light?

 

I'm afraid no. Volumetric emitters are still work in progress.

We have diffuse lighting implemented for spherical and cylindrical emitters, but right now there is no specular for these lights, yet.

 

Good morning,

monochrome spherical emitters are almost complete including diffuse and specular lighting. I'll try to upload the updated package this afternoon.

 

Version 1.07 is uploaded and waiting for approval.

To shorten the waiting time we prepared a new demo, that illustrates the difference between standard point lights and our new spherical emitters.

Have a nice weekend!

 

sehr interessant !!
grüße aus der nachbarstadt

 

would this plugin work with amplify.pt ?

 

in every update you leave me impressed, the last demo is awesome, but im just waiting for the shadows i know thats not easy but im just saying jeje greetings

 

one question, in a near future will be possible to create luminous surfaces? like the one in this picture? http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3443/3182786810_3d2affc250.jpg

 

same here! definitely need me some of them shadows!

 

HI, just downloaded the available trial for Amplify Texture. Based on the steps mentioned in their readme I created a simple scene and it worked well together with our lights.



However, I do not have any experience with the amplify plugins, so I can't provide you with a more in-depth testing I'm afraid.

 

We will continue working on primitive emitters such as cylinders and ellipsoids, but arbitrary mesh emitters are out of the question right now. Sry...

 

Version 1.07 is online...

Meanwhile we are fixing a bug, that occurs in Unity 4.x and causes problems with certain antialiasing filters and color manipulating image effects such as vignetting, contrast stretch and others... The respective patch will be included in the next release.

If anyone needs it upfront, contact me and I will send you a pm.

Cheers,
Martin

 

more spherical emitter screenshots

 

Hi,

i made another ssal video. it shows a new feature, which is currently in development.
Custom falloff curves





redLights Demos / Videos

 

Must have this!

 

Hi,

the screenshot shows the current state of the custom-falloff-editor, which is included in the next update.
it is possible to create and animate the main falloff-curve (red) via sub-curves (green).

work in progress

 

Version 1.08 has just been uploaded to the assetstore and will be available soon.

 

Good morning. Version 1.08 is now available for download.

 

Hi,

i replaced the falloff-texture-generation methode with a better one. It turns out, that the setPixel methode is not as fast as it should be
The new falloff-animator-version is about 10 times faster...

The changes will be included in the next update.
If anyone needs it upfront, contact me and I will send you a pm.

 

Just a heads up.

Another user spotted a bug related to spherical light emitters in DX11 mode, that we are currently fixing. Thx Andrew!

If you are experiencing any problems in this regard, we can provide you with a quick fix via PM. Otherwise it will be included in the next release, which will be uploaded next week.

Have a nice weekend!

 

Hi,

I am having two issues, one straightforward and one not so much...

1) When using public class AreaLightAnimated : AreaLight the items listed as public are not visible in the editor. I cannot type the movie folder name in or use any of the other public variables using the editor now. In the older version this worked fine. All of the public variables from AreaLight are in the editor though.
2) I cannot use this with my animated characters. There is severe ghosting when the characters are moving. This has been the case since the first day you released the asset. I have tried a lot of different things but can't get this part to go away. Basically it means I can only use the area lights in scenes that have no character animation. I am using marmaset shaders now but have used others such as default when trying to get this to work.

Thank you for all of your hard work, I wish I could use it in all of my project and not just the start menu.

- Lee

 

Hi Lee,

1. Ups, yes, this is my fault. Recently we switched to custom inspectors and I simply forgot to expose public variables of inherited classes. I'll send you a patch this afternoon.

2. I thought we had eliminated the ghosting issue. Can you please upload an example project somewhere, so we can reproduce what's going on?

Thanks

 

[Sample Removed. This issue has been fixed.]

This is a bit of an extreme example (lights turned up bright and not very distant..). In my project the camera is able to be moved around the character which makes the ghosting more pronounced from a profile view where you see the legs and arms moving a lot. Be sure to use the shift button to run in order to see the ghosting.

Thanks!

Lee

 

Perfect, thanks. Check your inbox.

Martin

 

Best support turnaround EVER!!!

Both issues FIXED. No more ghosting and the editor has the variables accessible now!!!

THANKS!

Lee

 

Happy to help, and thanks for spotting the problem!

 

Hi,

just uploaded redLights 1.09 to the asset store. It will include the follwing fixes/updates:

Fixed ghosting bug when using SSAL with animated characters.
Fixed unexposed variables in custom inspector.
Fixed bug with spherical emitters in DX11 mode.

Fallof Animator update speed can now be controlled via the editor.
A couple of usability updates with respect to the Falloffanimator editor.

Quite a bit of code refactoring and clean up.

Martin

 

Great looking plugin Martin!

Since you're doing spherical emitters now, is it at all possible to add an 'inverted sphere' to fake sky lighting?

Thank you!

-Steve

 

Hi Steve,

that is a great idea! I didn't even think of that...

It's not possible right now, but with some slight modifications it should be doable. I'll take a look.

Thanks!

Martin

 

Yay!

Yea figured with the effort to simulate GI, a decent skylight coupled with SSAO would go a long way to further that cause!

Cheers

-Steve

 

My friend Martin...

...doesn't it seem like there's a match here that is undeniable?!

You must make this marriage happen! Haha (I jest of course but it's an attractive proposition no?)

Cheers

-Steve

 

Hi,
You have a very interesting Project. I have been following the progress regularely. However for me it's not usable as long there are no shadows implemented. I hope you will set this feature to a higher priority soon.
Best, Reto