Immersive Realism: Achieving Fullscreen Effects with Post-Processing

So far, we have created different objects, such as meshes, particles, and lights, to alter the visuals of our scene. But if we really want to get that slick, modern game look, it’s time to try our hand at some post-processing magic. We can tweak the settings of our objects here and there to improve our scene quality, but you will always feel that something is missing when comparing it with modern game scenes, and the thing that is missing is post-processing effects, that is, any effects applied after all the processing of the scene has been completed to enhance its visual results. In this chapter, you will learn how to apply effects to the final rendered frame, which will alter the look of the overall scene we have been creating in previous chapters.

In this chapter, we will examine the following image effect concepts:

• Using post-processing
• Using advanced effects

Let’s...

Using post-processing

Post-processing is a Unity feature that allows us to apply a stack of effects (several effects) one on top of the other to alter the final look of an image. Each one will affect the finished frame, changing the final image the user sees. In Figure 13.1, you can see a scene before and after applying image effects. You will notice a dramatic difference, but that scene doesn’t have any changes in its objects, including lights, particles, and meshes.

The effects applied are based on a per-pixel level. Have a look at both the scenes here:

Figure 13.1: A scene without image effects (left) and the same scene with effects (right)

In this section, we will discuss the following URP post-processing concepts:

• Setting up a profile
• Using basic effects

By mastering these URP post-processing concepts, you’ll be able to transform your scenes from the ordinary to the extraordinary. Let’s start preparing our scene...

Using advanced effects

Now we’re stepping up our game with some advanced effects. They’re a notch above what we’ve seen before, and a bit trickier, but don’t worry—we’ll guide you through them. In this section, we are going to see the following advanced effect concepts:

• High Dynamic Range (HDR) and Depth Map
• Applying advanced effects

Let’s start by discussing some requirements for some of these effects to work properly.

High Dynamic Range (HDR) and depth map

Remember the Depth Map from our last chapter? Some effects need more than just the rendered image; they require extra data like this to really shine. Some effects not only work with the rendered image but also need additional data. We can first discuss the Depth Map, a concept we discussed in previous chapters.

A Depth Map is an image rendered from the point of view of the camera, but instead of generating a final image of the scene, it renders...

Summary

In this chapter, we discussed basic and advanced full screen effects to apply in our scene, making it look more realistic in terms of camera lens effects and more stylish in terms of color distortions. We also discussed the internals of HDR and Depth Maps and how they are important when using those effects, which can immediately increase your game’s graphic quality with minimal effort.

Now that we have covered most of the common graphics found in Unity systems, let’s start looking at how to increase the immersion of our scene by using sounds in the next chapter.

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