[On 50% OFF SALE! -Save $600!✅] Ethereal URP - Volume Lighting, Atmosphere and Fog system for the URP

nasos_333 · January 1, 2021, 3:43pm

Ethereal URP - Volumetric Lighting and Fog system for the Universal Pipeline

Ethereal URP is a new ARTnGAME asset that allows the creation of light volumes in URP.

The system can work in any URP above 7.4.3 and works best in the newest URP11, because it support spot light shadows as well. The 4rth video is from URP11 demo.

The system will be released in few weeks, it is also part of the Sky Master ULTIMATE URP suit, which is available now to all Sky Master ULTIMATE users.

The videos below are from Sky Master ULTIMATE URP, using Ethereal module for the light volumes.

nasos_333 · January 1, 2021, 3:48pm

Changes Log

Ethereal v1.1.8l

Added extra demo with more cases of light selection, in this demo only a single light is excluded.

Ethereal v1.1.8k

Added tutorial demo showcasing the ability to enable volumetrics only for certain local lights using the light selection based on color system and added detailed instructions inside the demo scene for the usage and for direct reference.

Ethereal v1.1.8j

Updated documentation - video tutorials

Ethereal v1.1.8i

Fixed the local volume light intensity in two of the demos, due to the new change in “StepsControl.x” variable range in the shader.
Added a version of the latest 6 local lights streaming demo for lower end systems in mind

Ethereal v1.1.8h

Added new option to use infinite local lights directly, versus the previous 6 local lights limit. To enable replace the Legacy material in the “VolumeFogSRP_FORWARD_URP” material with the non Legacy version (Legacy is default as has the best performance, because hardcoding 6 lights is faster than the new loop that supports any number)
Fixed an issue in the new fixed step method where lights might appear in front of objects, also regulated the effect more precisely, it might need to re-adjust the “StepsControl.x” variable for best result. Also decoupled the fixed step system from the directional light, now only applies to the local lights.
Added first Beta version of the new light streaming - management module, that will assign volumes to lights as the player moves around the map and assign distant volumes to impostor light volume system automatically, for large scale maps light management. This is the first base version and the system will be updated with more features, smooth out transitions and impostors in next versions.

Ethereal v1.1.8g

Added new version of the Dual Cameras demo with utilizing the new local lights rendering methods, for reference of the new distance based ray tracing method
Added patch for the case an error appears about variable protection level in some of the temporal AA scripts, in Unity 2020 and above, the patch is inside the “ARTnGAME-VolumeFogSRP-Pathces” folder
Refined some of the demo scenes for better visuals

Ethereal v1.1.8f

Added option to render the volume effect from up to eight different cameras.
Added demo with 4 cameras
Added new space oriented demo with adjustments for big scale
Added sand storm demo

Ethereal v1.1.8e

Added fix for an issue when the dual cameras rendering mode is used where the sun would not update correctly in one of the cameras.
Added more forest demos with different settings and local lights showcase
Fixed an issue where the fog distance from the camera would not follow the camera in horizontal space, making fog density calculated based on distance from world space zero point.
Addressed an issue where the volume sampling steps are variable depending on the scene depth, which may cause issue as a light volume intersects various scene depths and the sky and the volume may appear uneven. The “Step Control” X variable in the connectVolumeFogSRP script can now be used to control this effect, zero will disable the new system, values like 0.01 or 0.1 will enable an even volume sampling step independent of the scene depth, resulting in the volume of light appear even between the various ground distances and sky.

Ethereal v1.1.8d - Major Upgrade - Read Manual last paragraphs for adapting in the case of spot lights

Restructured the project folders so can get a minimal (20MB) version with erasing the “Ethereal Volumetric Lighting”, “Common Tools” and “ARTnGAME GI PROXY” folders.
Addressed issue where inserting the connect fog script directly (than copy from a demo scene camera) would not give good first results. The zero noise option is now the default for local lights.
Added Tutorial videos
Added link in Ethereal Manual for the Tutorials videos play list
Added Tutorial related demo scenes
Added first Virtual Reality (VR) Beta patch in “ARTnGAME-VolumeFogSRP-Scripts-URP-Resources” folder, for using the system with Multi pass, the testing was done on MockHMD inside Unity 2021 with URP12 and is emulation, so cannot yet say for sure if this WIP Beta VR patch will play in an actual device.

Ethereal v1.1.8c

Solved issue where fog height level was changing on camera vertical movement
Solved issue where black dots might appear on volumes of strong intensity lights
Fixed issue where screen might go black if camera Z position was zero
Identified an issue where the screen may go black in certain camera angles if the fog height variable is lower than 5m (make sure to put fog height above that value if see the issue, will be fully addressed in next patch v1.1.8d)

Ethereal v1.1.8

Fixed issue where local lights that got disabled or out of camera view would cause another local light at random to increase intensity.
Added planet with asteroid belt demo
Added moving lights demo
Added moon light demo

Ethereal v1.1.7a

Added new demo scenes with distant sun and sky fog coverage manipulation showcase
Added option to control local and directional light sampling steps in the noise and no noise option cases

Ethereal v1.1.7

Added new option to use zero noise sampling for spot and point lights. The new

option requires the use of few extra sampling steps, and the spot and point volumes

can have zero noise without any image effect (e.g. temporal AA).

Added demo scenes showcasing the new zero noise option and sample videos of the two different ways of sampling below

Video 1: Random sampling noise reduction with image effects

Video 2: No noise sampling, for zero spot-point volume noise without image effects

Ethereal v1.1.6a

Added volume shadows cutoff option based on camera distance
Added volume shadows strength control

Ethereal v1.1.6

Added a fix for extra shadow volumes created by sampling of the shadow map behind occluding objects, now the ray casting stops sampling the directional light shadow if the ray hits a scene object surface. This will also increase performance when directional light is used.

Ethereal v1.1.5a

Added two new demos, showcasing the fog effect in lower camera view distances

Ethereal v1.1.5

Added new dual camera setup demo, rendering the same scene from two cameras. (One camera must be set as “MainCamera” and hold the “connectVolumeFog” script and the other “Untagged” and use the Reflections system forward renderer (volume fog renderer feature has the isForReflections checkbox enabled). The 2ond camera must be referenced in the connect script in the reflection camera slot.

Both cameras render to a rendertexture and the two textures are applied in two quads rendered by a global camera that only renders those, with all image effects disabled for that camera.)

Added new system to change volumetric lighting parameters on entering specific volumes, like enter a house from outdoors.
Added three new forest demos showcasing volumetric lighting at day and dusk times and with camera from above the fog.

Ethereal v1.1.4

Added new forest with noisy wind demo
Fixed an issue where absence of the 2D noise texture would create a memory leak
Added check for sun light existence in the script if sun has not been referenced
Added tooltips and categories for easier navigation of the script parameters
Added Beta version of a new system of light array impostor lights (spot and point lights) for adding multiple cheaper light sources in the scene without actual scene lights activated
Add bonus screen space volumetric sun light module

Ethereal v1.1.3a

Per light power control. The LightControlA.x controls the Directional Light power, the LightControlA.y the Local lights overall power (inverse power), LightControlA.z-w and LightControlB.x,y,z,w control individually each of the 6 local lights power (all values are offset additionally to the individual Unity light power).
Light selection controls (experimental feature), new system to allow volumes on a single local light, as selected in the relevant script slot. Option for two lights will be added in v1.1.4 (using the 2ond local light B slot in the script). The volume effect in the selected light is enabled when one of its R, G or B colors is at 128, it does not matter which one, the other colors can vary as needed.

Ethereal v1.1.2

Added New system for volumetric wind with parametric noise

Sample video

Added example demo with use of the system with additive scene loading, with lights in the second loaded scene.

Sample video

Ethereal v1.1.1

Added fix for flicker in editor, when both editor and game windows are open
Added support for up to 6 local lights plus directional volumetric effect
New performance optimizations
Added option to pass a reflections camera to the script to render the effect in a second camera (e.g. can be used for reflections), using a different renderer that will have the isForReflections checkbox selected in the fog renderer feature.
Addressed some issues in Reflections script in Sky Master ULTIMATE URP Water module and added a public reference to the reflections camera so can be passed to the fog script (Sky Master ULTIMATE URP version)

nasos_333 · January 1, 2021, 3:56pm

Ethereal v1.4.6

Added Fog Only mode sample pipeline renderer and related demos.
Added new demos showcasing the Humidity based fog and various effects like fiery sky and low hazy fog.
v1.4.5
Added a fix for the Humidity based fog option for the latest Unity 2021.3 LTS and above.
Added new Galaxy demo showcasing the use of the Humidity based fog
v1.4.4
Added new tutorial on how to setup the sample pipeline and the effects on a new custom pipeline (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wbwQf1ZxlU
)
Refactored the PATCHES folder for better clarity of required patches for Unity 2022.3 LTS
Updated the README and quick setup guide documentation
Updated to Unity 2021.3.29f1
v1.4.3
Added local light volumes attenuation controls, for getting smoother volumetric light distribution near the light center.
Added new demos showcasing the new “Local Light Attenuation” variable option.
Added Unity 2023 patch for updating the shaders with the above new feature.
v1.4.2
Added patch for use in PS4, in PATCHES folder.
Added new Forest demo (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWTZ-CBjMdc
), requires the extra assets download linked in the README file, to fully work.
Added new room with sun shafts and local lights demo.
Added new stylized Forest demo.
v1.4.1
Added patch for support of the latest Unity 2022.3 LTS version, in PATCHES folder.
v1.4
Addressed warnings in Unity 2022
First adaptation of the system for Unity 2023 compatibility
v1.3.1
Added extra checks in the new external TemporalAA module to avoid cases where is may break the main camera matrix. In the case where the camera seems to not render the scene objects, enable the orthographic mode and then revert back to perspective to reset the camera matrices.
Added new demo scenes showcasing city lights and Hazy mode with various configurations. The Haze mode is heavier, so is targeted towards stronger systems.
v1.3.0
Added option to turn off fog and keep only the volumetric lights, with the “GlobalFogPower” variable. Also controls the global fog power and its noise is controlled with the new “GlobalFogNoisePower” variable.
Added option to turn on noise only on volumetric lights. This mode is enabled when the “VolumeLightNoisePower” variable is set different to zero. The effect is fine tuned also by the “GlobalFogNoisePower” which adds extra noise to the effect. Note this noise is applied to the camera distance to the beams, thus may require extra tweaking of the raycast distances.
Added option to use a 3D texture for the noise than calculate it in the shader.
Added the new option in the manual
v1.2.2b
Added fix for Ethereal be rendered in material preview window
Added extra checks for the new Temporal AA so wont affect other than main cameras.
v1.2.2a
Fixed an issue with the new Temporal AA Feature, where disabling it would not reset the main camera matrix and show another camera view than expected.
v1.2.1
Added stained glass window volumetrics system first version (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aY0JNcIk1o
)
v1.2.0
Ported the system to Unity 2021.3, which will be the version the next features will be based on.
Added an extra Temporal AA method to use for noise reduction. Make sure to enable the Post Processing on the forward renderer for the system to function properly.
Added the cookies support for light shadowing as default and related demo scene.
v1.1.9j
Added new demo scene showcasing deep and low fog options in open space with spot light volumes.
v1.1.9i
Added new demo scene with spot light and sun light volumetrics and no fog in the rest of the scene and the background.
v1.1.9h
Fixed an issue where building produces an error about UnityEditor after the latest version changes in v1.1.9f, now can build normally
Added a patch for Unity 2021 to enable the use of the new Light Cookies system, in PATCHES - LIGHT COOKIE SUPPORT and related demo scene
v1.1.9g
Added new demo for Deep Forest, this demo requires download of the extra assets linked in the readme file.
(Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kANFJKKl_h8),(Image
: Deep forest with Volumetric atmosphere effects in URP pipeline - Imgur)
v1.1.9f
Fixed an issue where adding the renderer feature automatically through the connect fog script would add only temporarily the feature and was removed after save or load another scene. Now is persistent as supposed.
Added the default of render order of the effect to “After Skybox” in the renderer feature setup.
v1.1.9e
Fixed an issue where impostor lights might appear on the back of the camera view. This was due to a Unity bug in URP versions prior to 7.5.2, thus is recommended to upgrade to at least that version for the system to work properly.
Fixed an issue where the 8 and 16 lights variant of the volume lights shader had the same shader name as the 6 lights variant (Legacy 1)
v1.1.9d
Refined the light streamer and demo scene
Added new demo scene showcasing more on the light streaming possibilities, the fog areas separation system and the new downscale with integrated temporal AA mode.
v1.1.9c
Added control in Light Streamer to disable lights out of screen bounds automatically and offset to the bounds so can extend beyond the visible screen, for the case where a light may be positioned outside the view but the light volume is inside.
Added new top down view demo showcasing the Light Streamer module.
Added new demo showcasing how to get fully dark areas without fog by control the scene ambience.
v1.1.9 - Major Update
Fixed issue where enable HDR checkbox disabled HDR instead. Note that if see the volumetric lights lower in intensity after the update, toggle the “EnableHDR” checkbox on if is off to alter the state to the now correct one.
Added Temporal AA option to lower the noise of the volumetric sampling when needed (directional light or if noise-less mode is not used)
Added Downscale option to lower the overall solution resolution, this can effectively double the performance, but will lower the overall screen crispness as shown in linked photos. (No Downscale - No TAA, No Downscale - With TAA, 2x Downscale - No TAA, 2x Downscale - With TAA)
Added new experimental Blend mode option of the solution, this mode allows downscale of the volumetric lighting with crisp object edges. The feature is in its first version and will be augmented further in the next Ethereal versions.
Added experimental Multi Scatter fog option
Added new shadow fade out mode when ShadowsControl.w variable is set to value above or below zero, with the fade depending on the chosen value.Make sure to reset this value to zero to get same result as the system before this update
v1.1.8u
Cleaned up few assets from the sample URP pipeline that might conflict with other projects using the same.
Placed the demo scenes inside the volumeFogSRP folder and refined the folder structure.
v1.1.8t
Fixed issue in Unity 2021 where a shader error could prevent the proper build of the game. A patch has been included in ARTnGAME->VolumeFogSRP->PACTHES folder to install if use Unity 2021 and above.
v1.1.8s
Added new demo scene showcasing multiple moving local lights with shadow casting in the volumetrics.
v1.1.8r
Added two new tutorial demo scenes for usage reference
v1.1.8q
Compressed all extra demo scenes and assets into a single unity package file and linked it externally, link is in the README file.
Placed the sample pipeline and the optional Temporal AA and Motion Blur image effects inside the new “EXTRAS” folder
Added two new tutorial demo scenes
If the project has already been installed with all demos prior to this updated version, this is an image based guide on what is needed as minimum to run the Ethereal - Imgur: The magic of the Internet. Every other folder and demo scene can be erased as needed to clean up the project.
v1.1.8p
Added variant of the volume lighting shader with hardcode 8 and 16 lights, this can be used when more than the default 6 local lights are needed but not want to use the more performance expensive infinite lights shader variant.
Added extra notes on the regulation of local volume light intensity in the inspector, for easier control of the light brightness
v1.1.8o
Added hotfix in ARTnGAME-VolumeFogSRP-PATCHES folder for the case where an error on “ObjectMotionVectors” shader appears in the latest Unity 2021.2.4f1.
Install the patch to rectify the issue.
v1.1.8n
Added new optimized windy dust storm demo
Added checkbox to add the renderer feature in the forward renderer assigned to the camera if does not exist.
Added notification in the connect fog script on camera, if the renderer feature is already properly setup in the selected in camera forward renderer, when the checkbox for setup is activated. Also notify if the URP fog material is not setup in the connect script.
v1.1.8m
Added new demo scene with instructions on use of the Impostor volume lights option
and showcase of the render depth and occlusion from objects of the impostor volumes.

Reserved

nasos_333 · January 2, 2021, 1:57pm

More information in Sky Master ULTIMATE forum thread.
[SAVE $600 UPGRADE OFFER!✅]Sky Master ULTIMATE: Sky, Ocean, Volume Clouds-lighting, Weather, RTGI page-49#post-6676675

ARTnGAME Assets are now on -50% SALE in Unity New Year Sale !!!

Sky Master ULTIMATE users can upgrade to InfiniGRASS for $5 !!!

nasos_333 · January 11, 2021, 2:21pm

January 2021 ARTnGAME big offers !!!

Sky Master ULTIMATE users can upgrade to the following ARTnGAME assets for only $3 for a limited time and to InfiniGRASS for only $5 !!!

Upgrade:
Sky Master ULTIMATE to InfiniGRASS - $5.00
Sky Master ULTIMATE to InfiniTREE - Procedural Forest Creation & Optimization - $3.00
Sky Master ULTIMATE to Advanced FX Creator - Decals, Particles, Radiosity & Splines - $3.00
Sky Master ULTIMATE to Particle Dynamic Magic 2: Decal, Spline, AI Particles & dynamics - $3.00
Sky Master ULTIMATE to Sun Shafts SRP Beta - $3.00
Sky Master ULTIMATE to **Volumetric Fog SRP **Beta - $3.00
Sky Master ULTIMATE to InfiniCLOUD HDRP - URP, Volumetric clouds & particles - $3.00

__InfiniGRASS __users can also upgrade to Sky Master ULTIMATE for only $5.

Enjoy

Ethereal will be released in February 2021, but the system is available right now as part of Sky Master ULTIMATE URP Suit, which is available to all Sky Master ULTIMATE users.

ARTnGame - Instagram - Facebook - Twitter - Discord - Youtube - Reddit

nasos_333 · January 12, 2021, 8:23am

Update:

The system is now ready for release and will be submitted soon to the store.

The system is also available right now as part of Sky Master ULTIMATE URP Suit, which is available to all Sky Master ULTIMATE users.

nasos_333 · January 13, 2021, 5:42am

Ethereal URP WIP.

Testing the system with a forest and the Atrium scene, all assets will be included in the system.

nasos_333 · January 14, 2021, 11:24pm

UPDATE:

Added wind and sub surface scattering shader to the tree samples and tweaked the fog further for dramatic sun light beams.

nasos_333 · January 16, 2021, 9:39am

Ethereal URP WIP. Sky Master ULTIMATE URP Volumetric lighting and Fog module.

Testing the system with a forest, also added wind to the tree shader for nicer look in the included demo scenes.

nasos_333 · January 17, 2021, 3:50am

Test of the system in URP11 with Point Light volumetric shadows

Ethereal URP WIP. Sky Master ULTIMATE URP Volumetric lighting and Fog module.

Testing the system with the new URP11 and Point Light Shadows.

nasos_333 · January 24, 2021, 7:40am

** Sky Master ULTIMATE** URP - Progress on adding water reflections of all effects, now volumetric clouds and the Volumetric fog - Lighting module (**Ethereal **) can combine properly in water reflections.

nasos_333 · January 25, 2021, 3:54am

Ethereal URP Volumetric Lighting and Fog, has been submitted for review to the store !!!

The system is also part of the Sky Master ULTIMATE URP suit, which is available now to all Sky Master ULTIMATE users.

An upgrade price to Ethereal of $5 will apply for Sky Master ULTIMATE users that may want access to the bonus Forest assets and the extra foliage shader packed in the Ethereal asset and the relevant new demo scenes.

nasos_333 · January 26, 2021, 7:12pm

1913×899 134 KB

Ethereal v1.1 Update - Coming soon

The next version will have support for up to 6 local lights and also a much more optimized light loop (previously 18fps become 26fps with 5 local lights and sun volumes)

Also will support the passing of a reflection camera to the script, for rendering through it for water reflections.
.

nasos_333 · January 27, 2021, 3:37am

Ethereal URP Volumetric Lighting and Fog, has been released to the Unity Asset Store !!!

The system is also part of the Sky Master ULTIMATE URP suit, which is available now to all Sky Master ULTIMATE users.

Sky Master ULTIMATE users can upgrade to Ethereal for $5 and benefit from the extra Forest demo scene, URP foliage shader and forest assets.

nasos_333 · January 27, 2021, 1:44pm

Sky Master ULTIMATE Volumetric Lighting System - Ethereal v1.1 Update

Ethereal Volumetric Lighting System Patch v1.1 is now available for download, the system now supports up to 6 local lights (point or spot) plus directional volumetric effect and has new performance optimizations, also addresses some issues in Reflections in Sky Master ULTIMATE URP version water

The update will be integrated in the coming Sky Master ULTIMATE Beta 11 and **Ethereal **asset v1.1

nasos_333 · January 27, 2021, 11:28pm

Sky Master ULTIMATE Volumetric Lighting System - Ethereal v1.1.1 Update

Added fix for flicker in editor, when both editor and game windows are open

The update is available as a patch on PM request and also will be integrated in the coming Sky Master ULTIMATE Beta 11 and **Ethereal **asset v1.1

nasos_333 · February 2, 2021, 6:12pm

Sky Master ULTIMATE URP Volumetric Lighting System - Ethereal v1.1.1 Update has been released at Unity Asset Store !!

Ethereal v1.1.1:

Added fix for flicker in editor, when both editor and game windows are open
Added support for up to 6 local lights plus directional volumetric effect
New performance optimizations
Added option to pass a reflections camera to the script to render the effect in a second camera (e.g. can be used for reflections), using a different renderer that will have the “isForReflections” checkbox selected in the fog renderer feature.
Addressed some issues in Reflections script in Sky Master ULTIMATE URP Water module and added a public reference to the reflections camera so can be passed to the fog script (Sky Master ULTIMATE URP version)

nasos_333 · February 3, 2021, 5:02am

Ethereal URP - (Sky Master ULTIMATE URP Volumetric lighting and Fog module)

Testing the system with additive scene loading.

One scene has the camera with the connect to fog script and another the lights, the Sun light must be grabbed after loading the scene and passed to the script for correct sun positioning in the fog.

nasos_333 · February 4, 2021, 10:48pm

Sky Master ULTIMATE (Sky Master ULTIMATE: Volumetric Skies, Clouds & Weather | Particles/Effects | Unity Asset Store) Volumetric Lighting System - Ethereal (Ethereal URP - Volumetric Lighting & Fog | Particles/Effects | Unity Asset Store) v1.1.2 Update

Combination of the volume lighting with Sky Master ULTIMATE water and water reflections system.

nasos_333 · February 5, 2021, 11:09am

Sky Master ULTIMATE (Sky Master ULTIMATE: Volumetric Skies, Clouds & Weather | Particles/Effects | Unity Asset Store) Volumetric Lighting System - Ethereal (http://u3d.as/2jQH) v1.1.2 Update

New demo and Ruins assets Coming soon as a bonus download for all Sky Master ULTIMATE and Ethereal users !!! The demo uses Sky Master ULTIMATE water and water reflections system.