2D Game Dev Journey — Day 10: Post Processing
Welcome to 2D Game Dev Journey — Day 10: Post Processing. Today I will be adding some post-processing effects to really help our game stand out.
Starting Point & Setup
Today we will be starting right where we left off in 2D Game Dev Journey — Day 9: Visual Effects (VFX).
Post Processing
Installation
The first thing I had to do to get post-processing working, I needed to install the post-processing package through Unity’s package manager. Once a package is installed, the package manager window should look similar to what I have below:
Additionally, to get post-processing working for the purposes I will use, I had to create an empty GameObject, attached the Post-process Volume component, and checked the Is Global property to true. I also needed to create a layer I named “Post Processing” which I used to set my main camera’s layer to, as well as the empty GameObject I am using for post-processing. With all of this setup, we can now see the effects at play.
** Note: If using Unity 2019.4.4f1 (this may be true for any 2019 version using URP), then you must go into your settings and change your Post Processing “Feature Set” property to Post Processing V2 instead of Integrated. Post-Processing V2 will be deprecated in the future, but it has to be used for now at least in the version I am using. Solution found on this Unity forum.
Bloom
Now Bloom is an effect that can easily be noticed off the bat. With bloom enabled, the intensity of bright areas on the screen is further intensified to provide a nice bloom effect around them. Simply by changing the Intensity property, we can see this effect in action.
Color Grading
The Color Grading post-processing effects allow for a lot of control as well. In this effect, we can set our tone mapping mod (which I have set to ACES), as well as setting our white balance, exposure, saturation and so much more. Playing around with the temperature settings alone gives us pretty drastic changes and feels:
Changing the Hue Shift property makes this cool effect due to each pixels hue being changed individually:
Some Other Effects
Vignette
Grain
Chromatic Aberration
There are even more effects I do not cover here. Feel free to check them all out yourself if you are interested. Post-processing is a very important aspect of game development, and a person/team can really create some awesome stuff with it when utilized correctly!
Conclusion
Thanks for checking in and reading today’s article. Tomorrow, I will be adding in some game audio to help with the immersion aspect of the game. As always, comments and critiques are welcome. If I have made any mistakes, please let me know so I can correct them for future readers. If you would like a more in-depth tutorial about anything I went over today, let me know and I will take the time to write something up.
