Rational use of textures in creating high-quality effects
In this post I want to show the benefits of my approach to smoke shading. I also want to tell you how to improve the animation of fire and explosions. And most importantly, there will be recommendations on how to maintain an impressive level of performance. These ideas were formulated in 2021. Implemented twice in two different companies where I led this process. Simple Smoke Initially, I set myself the task of not using more than one sampler. But to spend a sampler simply on alpha means not using its full potential. Please pay attention to the animation below: On the left - one channel is used for Alpha and that's it; In the center - one channel for Alpha and two more for the Normal map; On the right - Alpha, two for Normal and the last one for AO. It is obvious that the right side has the most detailed smoke, which will perfectly fit into any environment. And the best thing is that the budget for one sampler is not exceeded. Here the question may rightly arise that two channels f...