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Fantasy Lab Talks About Global Illumination

Posted Jul 30, 2006 at 2:05PM EST by QJ Staff

Listed in: PS3 Tags: Global Illumination, playstation 3 updates, Sony

Back in June, independent next-gen development studio Fantasy Lab quietly introduced its Fantasy Engine. It created quite a buzz as the game engine features Global Illumination system. Back then, it wasn't known to which platform the game engine will debut. In an exclusive interview with PS3Land, Fantasy Lab President Michael Burnell talks about the amazing technology that will power some PS3 games.

Global Illumination, as used in 3D computer graphics, calculates the light that reaches a surface using both direct light from light sources and indirect reflecting off other surfaces. As a result, images are more realistic and natural looking.

Besides Global Illumination (GI), the Fantasy Engine also has another unique feature. Burnell explains, "I think our combination of subdivision surfaces with displacement mapping is unique. It lets us render very complex geometry in a realistic way from any viewpoint. Computer graphics is about creating an illusion. If you see an object up close and it is obvious that it is rendered with normal-mapped polygons then you lose the illusion. Thereafter the viewer knows that the object is just some normal-mapped polygons and it no longer seems as real."

Burnell points out that the most noticeable difference between GI renders and other shading techniques is the "diffuse inter-reflections." This makes images look more real no matter what materials are rendered. It doesn't give out unnatural lighting as seen in the Doom 3 engine.

The usual methods for for computing GI could take several hours even on typical scenes, but Fantasy Lab utilizes an "extremely" efficient technique that's ideal for running on parallel computing hardware. The studio believes that the PS3 is "powerful enough to render complex scenes in real-time with global illumination".

The studio is currently working on a PS3 title but they didn't provide any more information other than the game will have an "E" rating. They're also looking to offer the GI technology as middleware on the PS3.

You can watch the Global Illumination in action as Fantasy Lab released a clip showing an animated model lit by the sky geometry.

Download: [Fantasy Lab - Rhinork Clip]

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We can expect to see Global Illumination in numerous next-gen games for both 360 and PS3 in future, without the use of the Fantasy Engine.

Games like Halo 3 and Forza 2 for example, implement Global illumination on the XBox 360, and therefore I expect a few PS3 games to be announced with the same feature too.

The Fantasy Engine is interesting, however I do find the demos they've created to show off the technology to be rather disappointing. Hopefully we'll see some better demos in future which can really show off their techniques for Global Illumination and "subdivision surfaces with displacement mapping".

# Nice but... — Guest 2006-07-31 00:02

#4 I hope to see a better demo for the GI as well, maybe a room with different colored walls... I read in an other report, that the current demo runs with 300 fps. But there is only one character on screen and a low poly-environment. I want to see how the framerate will behave with an environment with many buildings and dozenz of characters and additional effects. I don´t believe, that you can use this technique in a full scene.

# Hey mister fanboy.... — KnowLedge 2006-07-31 02:20

Yaz.... you know that FORZA 2 was just a pre-rendered scene?

And link me to the places where devs claim that HALO 3 and FORZA 2 use Global Illumination, cause from what I know, there are things like patents, so it's not really possible to use the same tech without paying money.

Did Fantasy Lab sell middleware to M$? No, I don't think so.

# Retard.. — Guest 2006-07-31 02:39

He's not a fanboy, he's just stating the facts. Microsoft did in fact announce that Halo was going to be using a global lighting system, not neccesarily the same as GI. Patenting all kinds of GI would be like patenting all lighting effect that go along with any 3d engine. GI is that too, a 3d engine. I think you're the one who should stop being a fanboy and listen to the facts.

# There's no need for that Knowledge... — Yaz 2006-07-31 02:57

Just because we had disagreements in the past Knowledge, it doesn't mean you have to carry it into other threads as well (you seem to be a person who holds grudges... Let it go... :)).

Anyway, I only ever mention information that I can back up with links. I don't make up facts and I don't rely on faith when it comes to information. Also, if I don't know something, I say so, if I'm guessing/speculating, I also say so, and if I'm wrong, I admit it.

Regarding Global Illumination, I am correct, so please read on....

For Halo 3;

http://www.ugo.com/channels/games/insidegames/article/1948/Halo_3__What_We_Know.aspx

"Bungie explained that there is one light source in the game and that everything cast realistic shadows; it's what they are calling the Global Illumination Model."

You can find other links too, just search for halo 3 and global illumination or lighting. Eg, on Gamespot, they refer to it as Global lighting;

http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6149725.html?sid=6149725&sid=6149725&sid=6149725

"Halo 3 has a new global lighting system that now lights everything uniquely from the same source, which explains just how that setting sun looked that good as it illuminated everything in the trailer."

So, in that teaser trailer for Halo 3, the ONLY light source was the sun, which lit the entire scene and produced background illumination as the light bounced off from other surfaces. This is the same technique demonstrated in the Fantasy Engine.

For Forza 2;

http://forzamotorsport.net/devcorner/pitpass/pitpass02.htm

"Q: We’ve announced that FM2 will be 60fps at 720p. Can you talk a bit about some of the other techniques we’ll be employing to make FM2 look next-gen?

JW: "We’re really taking full advantage of the immense graphics horsepower of the Xbox 360 to do some incredible things visually. Of course we’re 60fps at 720p, as you mention, but we’re also adding effects and features such as 4X anti-aliasing (no jaggies!), motion blur, high dynamic range lighting, global illumination and per-pixel car reflections updated at full frame rate. I could go on and on. Really a ton of stuff. Too much to list here."

So there you have it, BOTH Halo 3 and Forza 2 feature realtime Global Illumination.

As I said already, it's a technique which we will see in numerous 360 and PS3 games in future.

# #7 — Yaz 2006-07-31 03:00

Thanks. :)

# Welcome back yaz — Guest 2006-07-31 03:45

You may not have been away, it's just that I haven't seen any posts from you recently. :)

Anyway your posts here are up to your usual high standards I see. Great work! I knew about GI for Halo 3, but I didn't know about Forza2... cool (even though I'm not a fan of racing games).

As for you KnowLedge, yaz is right, if you two had problems in the past then you should leave it in the past. Yaz made a perfectly good comment in #4, and he's backed it up in #8 (I hope you read the info you ask for!!!).

I really can't understand your fanboy remark either. I've seen many threads that yaz has been in, and all he does is speak his mind based upon the facts available (with links to back them up, like in #8).

Just because he doesn't fall to his kness and worship the PS3 console, it doesn't make him a fanboy, especially since he doesn't worship the 360 or the Wii either (from what I've read here on QJ). From what I've seen, he only tries to speak the truth, which is a lot more that certain posters I can think of.

# #10 — Yaz 2006-07-31 04:12

"I've seen many threads that yaz has been in, and all he does is speak his mind based upon the facts available... he doesn't fall to his kness and worship the PS3 console... he doesn't worship the 360 or the Wii either"

I'm very pleased you've noticed that. Thanks. :)

# Ok.... — KnowLedge 2006-07-31 06:24

"global lighting" isn't global illumination. Global illumination has more than one light source, since EVERY object becomes light source, so it was a misinterpretati on on sites side.

As for FORZA 2, we're yet to see the graphics that will be used in game.

# #12 — Guest 2006-07-31 08:12

It is the same thing in Halo 3, I also read it before I read those links yaz provided (except for Forza).

You can clearly see in the screenshots and the trailer that MC is being illuminated by the sun AND the environment itself (there's even a touch of blue/grey light illuminating his suit from the surroundings). Hence objects in the environment are acting as light sources too.

As for Forza, they say it has global illumination and no doubt we'll see the game in action soon. For now, Halo 3 is the best example.

# #12 — Yaz 2006-07-31 09:21

The terms "Global Illumination" and "Global Lighting" are often used interchangeably because they're related to the same thing, with Global Lighting achieved through the use of Global illumination techniques.

Anyway, the following paper should be interesting to those in the field of 3D graphics;

"Fast, Realistic Lighting for Video Games"

http://ima.udg.es/iiia/GGG/UsersDocs/mateu/obscurances.pdf

Also, after a quick search, I've found another 360 game which appears to be using global illumination;

Blue Dragon Progress Report -

http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/672/672680p1.html

"In other interviews, Sakaguchi has referred to the game's visual style as being akin to Clay Animation, with lighting that approaches an advanced global illumination lighting model, which, more realistically, takes into account light from throughout the world rather than light exclusively from light sources."

Again, I stress that we can expect to see this technique being used in numerous 360 and PS3 games in future, without the use of the Fantasy Engine. Currently, the reason more 360 games appear to be using global illumination is that the console has launched already, it's out now whereas the PS3 is not. So I have no doubt we'll be reading about a few PS3 games with GI sometime soon (perhaps during TGS).

We'll see.

# wow Yaz — MGSROCKS1 2006-08-02 11:35

You always seem to respond calmly even if you were bashed by a perticular someone. I also agree with the fact that non of your comments make you seem like a fanboy. By the way, do you work in the gaming business? You seem to know alot about computers and you can surely use your skills. What you do you think?

# #15 — Guest 2006-08-03 10:47

Thanks MGSROCKS1.

I guess I'm always calm because I've been participating on newgroups and forums like this for well over 10 years (under different names), hence there's nothing anyone can throw at me that I haven't seen a hundred times before. :)

Anyway, I dont' work in the games industry itself (although I did write games in BASIC and Z80 assembly code during the 80s, for fun and to learn). However, I've worked in the computer industry for 20 years now, from programmer to managing a large Network, hence I see things from both a hardware and software point of view, and have closely followed gaming hardware and software developements over the years.

Still, I'm a gamer at heart, and so participating in discussions on websites like this is a great way to keep up to date on all the latest ideas and gaming news. :)

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