VFX Startup

I ended up creating real-time VFX unexpectedly, so here's a record for reference

目次

• Motivation
• Requirements
• References

Motivation

I was assigned to handle effects for a mobile game prototype.

Requirements

Since it was for a prototype, no further requirements were specified. While functional requirements were left open, I worked under the following assumptions:

• The target platform is mobile
• OpenGLES2.0 environment
• No consideration for switching between high and low specs

References

I collected and read through about 10 VFX books, including both print and digital, commercial and doujin. First, I'll mention the books that weren't useful. Books that only showed the final image and steps weren't helpful. It's more efficient to refer to software documentation or examples. The books that were particularly useful were those that clearly explained "based on what thinking, to create what kind of thing, these steps were chosen." Specifically, Wataru Ikeda's (amazon) Learning Real-time VFX with Houdini and Unreal Engine 4: Knowledge and Practice for Leveling Up was especially helpful. Also, regarding the tools I decided to use, this thread from realtimevfx was useful: Substance Designer for VFX?.