pouët.net

smash information 436 glöps

• general:
• level: user
• personal:
• first name: matt
• last name: swoboda
• cdcs:
• cdc #1: Paper by Psychic Link & Acme
• cdc #2: Square by Pulse [web]

• demo Windows Photon by Fairlight [web]
• Quote:

  Like what? Photon mapping has been around for ages (google Henrik Wann Jensen). I implemented a photon tracer back in 2001ish.
  And it's just based on the same old raytracing stuff that has been around for ages before that even. Just because we have enough processing power to do it in realtime these days doesn't mean it 'technically new', nor impressive.

  
  
  now if you're going to say something like that, you better immediately put your money where your mouth is and prove it. i'll send you the scenes, you go and deliver. as you already have the implementation from 2001-ish and modern hardware has the ability to run it realtime, it should be easy right?
  
  or you can admit you're talking out of your out-of-touch ass.
• isokadded on the 2015-03-21 13:06:43
• demo Windows Photon by Fairlight [web]
• but then by hammering the technical point home you really do end up with a tech demo, and i wouldnt want that either. ahh, the trials and tribulations of demomaking.
• isokadded on the 2015-03-21 11:14:14
• demo Windows Photon by Fairlight [web]
• navis : now here i strongly disagree with you.
  
  technology, the story behind the pixels you see on screen, is a big part of many aspects of the demoscene. from oldschool productions to size coding, even to the realisation a demo is realtime and not simply a video.
  
  yes you could have baked / faked many aspects of this all the way up from rendering (moving) reflection planes and baking (animated) lightmaps up to rendering layers of it to video, achieve the same visual but a faster result. for many demos where the focus is different that would be prefered - wise even.
  
  but here it would miss the point. in my opinion this demo is interesting _because_ of the realisation that it is done "for real", with "real scenes", doing something technically new and still producing a result that works visually, as well as practically (at proper frame rates and resolutions). the essence of the demo is built on the fact it's "real" - the paths of the photons visualised and building up the scene etc. the "art" aspect of this demo is all about the way the advantages and limitations of the technology used inform and lead the visuals. it's pretty much a piece about data visualisation. if you took away doing this rendering for "real" it would be pointless, it would remove the very soul of the production. it needs to be viewed in context otherwise, yea, there's not much to it.
  
  that's my take on it anyway. :) (pretentious artist-mode off)
• isokadded on the 2015-03-21 10:57:01
• demo invitation Windows Intrinsic Gravity by Still [web]
• pretty cool, i see what you did there. but it was missing something it needed to become properly engaging - maybe lost the sense of a journey, needed to find a meaning, needed some big moments of surprise in the transitions, im not sure what.
  
  also with something this "simple" it needs to be technically executed really really perfectly. because anything that's not perfect - (e.g. limitations of antialiasing / under-tesselation in places / motion blur would have helped) - stands out a mile when it's in flat white on black. black on white. whatever.
• isokadded on the 2014-12-29 17:30:28
• demo Windows Hurtquake by Excess [web]
• i thought it was absolutely brilliant.
  could be criticised for being style over substance - the scenes behind the layers of postpro are quite simple - but when the style is this much who cares?
  possibly the best "shitloads of postpro" ive seen in a demo - the glows, lens flares, dof, warps, distorts are all layered together so well. others should take note, this is how its done.
  great soundtrack too. especially when it switches up.
• rulezadded on the 2014-11-10 11:18:15
• 4k Windows Tilescapes by Digital Dynamite [web]
• goes to show how effective simplicity can be.. good work.
• rulezadded on the 2014-10-10 16:33:53
• demo Windows Blazar by Digital Dynamite [web]
• exceedingly generic demo to the point where it could almost be a parody - but the screen space reflections make it look better than the average and the kalaidoscope looked cool.
  
  as someone else said, this should be the visual average for a 2014 demo. (but it's not. so it looks better than average. :) )
• isokadded on the 2014-10-10 11:03:20
• demo Windows Black And White Lies by One Studio Off
• id love to take credit for this, but i cant.
• isokadded on the 2014-08-15 01:24:24
• demo Windows Clichés
• i dont know how much of it, if any, is faked/baked animation, but there's some really nice looking physics-based fx parts in here! thumb up for great code and/or great faking, and a great track as well. well deserved win.
• rulezadded on the 2014-08-14 12:46:13
• demo Windows Mrs Escher's Nightmare by Andromeda Software Development [web]
• the style of this is really cool..! original concept for a demo and very well implemented and polished.
  
  my one criticism: it doesnt "go" anywhere. after a couple of minutes i realised i had switched off. it felt too long at just 4 minutes. felt like there was a missed opportunity here to take it to a next level. also im sure ive seen some of those objects etc before :)
• rulezadded on the 2014-07-28 11:51:29