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Blur & Bloom Blunders

After about a year of playing new games coming out with new-fangled graphics engines, I finally made it to the optometrist today. I asked him if my vision was going bad, because my eyes were just not seeing the bloom and blur effects in my everyday life. On the computer, they seem to work just fine. But whenever I close out my window of Oblivion, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. or Rainbow Six 3: Vegas, everything just looks so…normal.

Light sources aren’t illuminating all the air particles around them. People and other objects look sharp and focused. Life just doesn’t seem to have that constant acid trip feel to it.

According to him, this is a very serious disease known as Reality Syndrome. It’s not fatal, but it will cause dry mouth, constipation, and disillusionment. Luckily, there is a cure!


The High Dynamic Range (HDR) Helmet

http://home.comcast.net/~binarypenguin137/goggles.jpg

Now see what God really meant for you to see! Explore the world with new bloom lighting effects. Take to the streets this stylish headgear and brag to your friends about your superior implanted graphics card. That’s not a smudge on your goggles; it’s real-time blur effects!

WARNING: MAY CAUSE SEVERE FRAME RATE DETERIORATION

I can understand the hate for current implementations of blur and bloom effects.

Honestly I don't like the way blurs are currently done. Normal vision does not blur like the way it's being done in games. There is some blurring from the chemical reactions in the rods and cones of your eyes, but not to the degree you see in games.

However with blurring, game developers are trying to mimic the cinematic / tv experience. But that blurring is more from the aliasing problem of the recording process. Recording at 60 fps, you're going to get some form of temporal aliasing leading to improper reconstruction (i.e. blurring).

I partly agree with the "hate" on current implementation of blooming. However I cut devs a bit more slack on that front.

Currently all of our output devices (monitors) are LDR (low dynamic range). Devs are trying to recreate a natural effect the only way they know how, which is blooming.

Overall our eyes can support a very high dynamic range. We can go from seeing detail in a pitch black room, to that of a fully lit room. However our eyes need to adapt to the current lighting of a room. But any given moment our eyes still maintain a dynamic range that is better than most current graphical output devices.

Blooming is trying to recreate the eye's adaptation to the HDR (high dynamic range) of reality on a LDR output device.

If you really want to see what is possible with HDR go check out the of Paul Debevec:

http://www.debevec.org/

He does a lot of great HDR work, and CG work in general.

Man. Way to make me feel stupid.

But that is pretty interesting stuff. Judging by that, the blur effect needs to gradually increase over a distance. Being 3 feet away from someone in the game and the character looking blurry just does not suit well.

Thank God! I thought it was my friggin' TV. I am going to try the goggles and maybe the helmet. Hopefully some R6:V later.

If it made all forests look like the ones in Oblivion, I would buy 2! :D

personally i dislike most blur effects in games these days. i love bloom when used correctly. Overall, though, the lighting effects in games makes them look way better than games of previous generations, but that is obvious i guess.

another very very funny post. awesome.

personally i dislike most blur effects in games these days. i love bloom when used correctly. *

I think when bloom is used correctly it shouldn't really be noticeable, it should just me one of many effects that makes a scene "look right".

You forgot about the other possible solution.

Recreational Drugs!

Why, with some you'll have a semi-guaranteed good trip! But watch out! Those bloom and blur effects could soon turn against you, with monsters and the like coming from no where to get you!

Which brings me to my next point... don't drop acid kids.

lol

Hey Ibn, sometimes people don't want to know how to make hot dogs, they just want to eat em... bloom still sucks though.. ;)