Post Processing
This tutorial by Prof. Pedercini contains numerous useful tips, including the use of Fog, Ambient Occlusion and Post-Processing effects. (You can also browse this older explanation page from my 2021 course.)
- Procedural skybox: 4’36”
- Fog: 18’20”
- General environmental (ambient) light: 21’10”
- Post-Rendering effects: 23’30”
For fog:
- Open the Lighting control panel: Go Window → Rendering → Lighting.
- Choose the Environment tab. Under Other Settings, enable (✓) Fog.
- Select a color for the Fog (light colors, and/or colors that match the horizon, work best).
- Increase the density to 0.02. Notice how the fog becomes soupy.
- Experiment with different “modes” (linear, exponential, etc.).
For post-rendering effects, such as Ambient Occlusion:
- Open the Window → Package Manager.
- In the upper left of the Package Manager, select “Unity Registry” in Packages (not “In Project”).
- Search for Post Processing. Install the package. This is the official Unity release.
- In Assets, you can now right-click, Create > Post Processing Profile. You’ll see a rainbow-colored circle asset; give it a name (like “myPPProfile“. This “profile” is a collection of settings that can be swapped in and out.
- We need to apply this Profile to the camera that the player sees. In your project Hierarchy, open Gold Player → Camera Head → Bob Target → Player Camera, select the Player Camera.
- In the Inspector window for the Player Camera, click Add Component. Search for “post”. Create both a post-process Layer and a post-process Volume.
- In the panel for the post-process Volume, drag your “myPPProfile” asset into the slot for Profile. Also in the post-process Volume, enable (✓) Is Global.
- In the panel for the post-process Layer, (for the time being) set the Layer to “Everything”. This is not ideal (it can be slow) but it’s easy for demonstration purposes.
- In Assets, select your “myPPProfile” asset, and view its Inspector, where you will see an “Add Effect” button. Click this.
- Upon adding an effect, choose Unity > Ambient Occlusion.
- Enable (✓) ambient occlusion; turn the switch on; enable Mode and Intensity; increase the Intensity to 1.0.
- Try other post-processing effects, such as Vignette and Chromatic Aberration.
Some Artists Who Create Immersive Worlds
Leah Minsky is currently a senior in the School of Art. As a sophomore in 60-210, they developed this project in Spring 2021:
- https://leahmins.itch.io/unity-skin-environment (interactive)
- http://www.courses.art.cmu.edu/2021s/60210a/bookoobread/05/05/bookoobread-environment/
Char Davies, Osmose (1995)
watch from 4’15”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsT59fp8LpY&t=255s
Jacolby Satterwhite
Rachel Rossin
Ian Cheng
Laura Juo-Hsin Chen: Daily Life VR (2016)