Virtual Method

We make software for the entertainment industry and teach others how to do it.

[Virtual Method @virtual_method]

@Big__TeeJ @nimlot26 If there’s a camera-mounted light, its specular contribution would appear in the original image as well. And it’s not rim lighting either since it lits the character from behind/laterally.

[Virtual Method @virtual_method]

@CryZe107 @IanCutress That's barely any control. What I mean is things like smoothness, albedo color, intensity/color of rim lighting, specular highlight placement, etc. The demos so far seem to arbitrarily change those (lower temp lighting, different eye/lip albedo, additional highlights, etc)

[Virtual Method @virtual_method]

@JTCoz @nimlot26 True, the Starfield one looks best compared to the original. It doesn’t take much for Starfield characters to look better, though… :D

[Virtual Method @virtual_method]

@JTCoz @nimlot26 Well if you love mac and cheese, it may be unfathomable to you that I don’t. That’s ok. We all perceive things differently. I’m not worried about the technology, I’m worried that most games will end up having mac and cheese on them since I don’t like it- if that makes sense.

[Virtual Method @virtual_method]

@JTCoz @nimlot26 In other words, this seems to trade control for perceptual “realism”. I don’t want perfect results, but let me determine if I want her eyes to have a glint or not, and where it shoud be.

[Virtual Method @virtual_method]

@MisterSpace3 Why do their tunics look like plastic coats with dlss on? Why the overblown lighting and the extreme contrast? Don’t know man, it just looks wrong to me.

[Virtual Method @virtual_method]

@kimmonismus That's kind of a half-truth: I can radically alter the look of an asset using eg. deferred decals without modifying the asset itself. However, adding wrinkles is not just "lighting". At the very least, it's modifying surface properties (roughness, normals, etc).

[Virtual Method @virtual_method]

@nimlot26 In any case, Imho this shouldn't add specular highlight where there were none before. They're not like subsurface scattering or area light shadows that are expensive to even approximate, they're cheap and we've had a closed form solution for decades. No need to vibe-place them.

[Virtual Method @virtual_method]

@nimlot26 That would be specular occlusion, which is different from ambient (more directional, ambient light tends to be isotropic). But yeah, I get what you mean.

[Virtual Method @virtual_method]

@nimlot26 Don't know man. Part of my job involves writing shaders and lighting systems, and this looks quite off to me. It could boil down to subjective/personal preference of course, so let's agree to disagree. I just hope we get something more than an on/off switch.

[Virtual Method @virtual_method]

@nimlot26 Could also be that her origional eye shading model is just diffuse and no specular, but that would be weird since specular highlights from light sources are pretty much free.

[Virtual Method @virtual_method]

@nimlot26 No, I meant this one. The key light in this scene is placed on the right side. The specular in her eye suggests there's a light right in front of her and slightly above her head, but that's not there in the original.

[Virtual Method @virtual_method]

@nimlot26 Overall light temperature also drastically changes: everything’s noticeably colder with DLSS on. Local constrast is also way too high, like in fake HDR photos. I’m not sure if all of that will be controllable, but it really should imho.

[Virtual Method @virtual_method]

@Sebasti66855537 Yes, it’s *miles* better than the originals they showed. It no longer looks like they cranked local contrast sharpening to 200%.

[Virtual Method @virtual_method]

@_BlessedRed Silhouette is not the same thing as shape. The volume of her facial features is completely different: more pronounced cheekbones, fuller lips, more prominent brows, thicker jaw, slighly thinner nasal bridge.

[Virtual Method @virtual_method]

@nimlot26 @engineseer We are aware of what they say it does. The problem for me is that it doesn’t seem to do that. Shadows are added/removed, light sources have their color/position changed, etc. It simply doesn’t blend right, results look wrong to me. Plausible, but wrong.