real world places like Quake / HL environments

[Froofy-D]

This photographer Joe Nishizawa takes photos of super high-tech places like particle accelerators, nuclear plants, etc... and they look just like stuff out of HL or Quake levels or any sci-fi movie.

Here's an article:

http://pingmag.jp/2006/07/24/japan-u...d-photography/

Here's his homepage with some more shots:

http://joe-nishizawa.jp/

Some sample pics below. The lighting is amazing in those places and he says he did no alteration of the photos whatsoever. Might be nice wallpaper material or inspiration for any future level designers out there.

[Sheaf]

I've never understood why FPS games don't include datacenters. Plenty of us gaming geeks have been in them and they are ideal for a level.

[James]

That last picture would make a shitty level.

[Grooverider]

Originally Posted by Sheaf

I've never understood why FPS games don't include datacenters. Plenty of us gaming geeks have been in them and they are ideal for a level.

Because people don't want to go to work, come home and play a game about work?

[Kiely]

Fuck that, if it involves killing co-workers and such in various ways, sign me up.

[Sheaf]

Originally Posted by Grooverider

Because people don't want to go to work, come home and play a game about work?

Every geek that has ever walked into a datacenter has thought about how cool it would be to assault it Counter-Strike style.

[Zeothul]

lol I just got a tour of a datacenter like a week ago...and yes...that needs some paintball action inside of it.

[FusedTritium]

Too lazy to RTFA but those pics kind of look like HDR.

Here are some pictures I saw on Fark a few days ago that are kind of similar. The reason they look kind of rendered is they employ HDR technology and are taken somewhere in underground Russia. The original link is broken right now for some reason but here are some I found in the old thread:


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[randomguy]

the last two russian ones look fake as hell. but all the pics look cool.

[Kasonic]

How does HDR work with photos? I'm confused how HDR makes 3D look realistic but makes real scenes look 3D.

[FusedTritium]

I don't understand it nearly well enough to explain so I'll let Wikipedia explain:

In computer graphics and cinematography, high dynamic range imaging (HDRI) is a set of techniques that allow a far greater dynamic range of exposures than normal digital imaging techniques. The intention of HDRI is to accurately represent the wide range of intensity levels found in real scenes ranging from direct sunlight to the deepest shadows.

HDRI provides the opportunity to shoot a scene and have total control of the final imaging from the beginning to the end of the photography project. An example of this control is that it provides the possibility to re-expose. One can capture as wide a range of information as possible on-location and choose what is wanted later.

When preparing for display, a high dynamic range image is often tone mapped and combined with several full screen effects.

Full link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_dynamic_range_imaging

(Not a huge write-up there but some cool pics)

[schwein]

found this page linked from another site. it has some very quake enviroments

http://russos.livejournal.com/210363.html

[Attman_Eci]

What is this shit and why do we care?

[Plan9]

Originally Posted by Kasonic

How does HDR work with photos? I'm confused how HDR makes 3D look realistic but makes real scenes look 3D.

With HDR, the photographer take several exposures of the same scene. Some shots may use two pictures bracketed at +1/+2 EV (exposure value), or more shots bracketed at smaller intervals. These are then fed into a HDR imaging program to create the final image - basically averaged together.

It is used for scenes that have both deep shadows and bright highlights, and alows for proper exposure of both within one photograph, whereas without HDR you would be forced to choose one or the other.

For example, in the tunnel scenes, taking the picture at the proper EV might give proper exposure of the area directly around the lights but everything else would be pitch black. Then a picture at +1 EV might give the proper exposure for the walls of the tunnel near the lights, but since you are getting twice as much light, the areas that were exposed correctly in the previous shot would be blown out. I'd imagine these scenes were rather dark and quite a few pictures would be taken, and eventually averaged together.

As to why it makes them look so surreal..I really have no idea

Anyway, its Explained better here: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tut...amic-range.htm

[Zuuljin]

I think it looks funny because our eyes dont do this. They either focus on the light things, or the dark things. When we look at a normal photograph, we can relate to whatever exposure it was taken in. But when you combine them both, you get an unnatural looking photograph. Sort of like an "ambiant" light source around everything, with a few spots a little brighter then others.

Strangly enough I was thinking about this sort of thing earlier today, without haveing even read this thread. I was just daydreaming while at work and was thinking about when graphics in games will reach photorealism. And I came to the conclusion that they will never be photorealistic because of effects like this. Your eye, in reality, can change how it views the exact same landscape just by focusing on different things.

An easy example of this would be a puddle on the street. You can focus on the reflection of the water, and it looks like a mirror, or you can shift your focus to whats behind the water, and view a blurry street. Another example would be the windsheild of your car. You can look through it to drive, and it looks like it isnt there (assuming its clean), or you can focus on the windsheild itself and see all the little knicks and scratches from crap hitting it. But there is no possible way (without some crazy new monitor) for your eye to do that in a videogame. So the game will try to render both for an unnatural look. Therefore the game will always present you with one way, or a combination of each way to view things, but will never let you shift your focus from one to the other, giving it that realistic look.