Unity 2D Scene Tutorial - Layers, lighting, post-processing, blur camera etc

Philip Paul

28 Feb 202319:44

Summary

TLDRThis video provides an in-depth devlog on building a game scene using the Universal Render Pipeline (URP). The creator walks through the process of layer management, lighting, and post-processing, offering practical tips for organizing assets, adding depth with lighting techniques, and creating effects like fog and blurred backgrounds. The video emphasizes the importance of maintaining control over each element, adjusting blur levels, and using post-processing tools to achieve a cinematic look. It's a helpful guide for solo developers looking to enhance their game scenes with visual effects and organization.

Takeaways

🎮 The video is a devlog explaining how the creator built their simulation game with details like layer management, lighting, and post-processing.
🛠️ The developer mentions that creating games as a solo dev is overwhelming, as they have to manage everything from story, scripting, and design to technical aspects.
💡 The first step was to set up a scene in Unity using the Universal Render Pipeline (URP), warning that transitioning to URP might break materials but is fixable.
📂 The developer organizes assets into three folders: foreground, mid-ground, and background, while adding multiple sorting layers for proper sprite management.
🎨 Blurred assets were used in the scene for depth, with closer objects having less blur and distant objects more, offering control over the depth effect.
🌟 Global lighting was created for different layers to manage the brightness and darkness of the scene, with special attention to foreground, mid-ground, and background lighting.
🔦 Shape lights and spotlights were utilized for more control over specific scene elements, enhancing the platforms and creating mood with colors.
🌫️ Fog sprites were added for depth and atmosphere, created in Photoshop and imported into Unity, with color and transparency adjustments.
✨ Sprite lights were applied to specific layers for additional lighting effects, requiring proper layer management to avoid conflicts with other elements.
📸 The developer used multiple cameras with different post-processing effects to blur the background, stacking them in Unity to achieve the desired sharpness and blur in specific scene layers.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the video?
-The video aims to provide a detailed devlog on how the creator built a simulation game, covering aspects like layer management, lighting, and post-processing, among others.
Why does the creator emphasize the need for a detailed devlog?
-The creator explains that as a solo developer, they have to manage many areas of the game development process, making it easy to forget certain details after moving on to other tasks. The devlog serves as a reference for future work.
What is the first step in setting up a new scene in Unity using the URP pipeline?
-The first step is creating a new scene in Unity using the Universal Render Pipeline (URP) or converting an existing scene to URP, though this process might cause material issues that need to be fixed.
How does the creator manage layers and assets in the scene?
-The creator organizes the scene by creating three folders: foreground, mid-ground, and background. They also add sorting layers to manage how sprites are displayed relative to one another, assigning each sprite to its appropriate layer.
What technique does the creator use to add depth to the scene?
-The creator adds depth by blurring certain assets in Photoshop, with objects closer to the player having less blur and distant objects having more. They also use semi-transparent planes for additional layers.
How does the creator handle lighting in different layers of the scene?
-The creator uses multiple global lights, each affecting different layers like the foreground, mid-ground, and background. They start by making layers dark and then gradually adjust brightness using tools like shape lights and spotlights.
What is the purpose of using Sprite lights and how are they created?
-Sprite lights are used to add localized lighting effects. The creator makes them by painting white dots on a transparent background in Photoshop, blurring them, and exporting them as PNG files to be used in Unity.
How does the creator add fog effects to the scene?
-Fog effects are created by designing blurred white dots in Photoshop and importing them into Unity. The fog sprites' transparency is adjusted, and they are placed in the scene to add atmospheric depth.
What method does the creator use to blur the background of the scene?
-The background blur is achieved by duplicating the main camera and setting up one sharp camera and one blurred camera. Separate layers are assigned for background blur, and depth of field effects are applied only to the blurred camera.
What final touch does the creator add to improve the visual quality of the scene?
-The creator adds post-processing effects like Bloom, color curves, and Lift Gamma Gain to enhance the scene's lighting and colors, creating a more cinematic feel while being careful not to overdo the effects.

Outlines

00:00

📽️ Introduction to the Devlog and Scene Setup

The video starts by introducing the content as a devlog requested by viewers, focusing on the development process of building a simulation. The creator highlights the complexity of game development as a solo developer, covering aspects like auto direction, game design, and coding. They emphasize the challenge of retaining knowledge as projects evolve and explain that this video will walk through the process of creating a new scene using the URP pipeline in Unity. The tutorial begins by adjusting sprite rendering settings, organizing assets into foreground, mid-ground, and background layers, and assigning sorting layers to each sprite for clarity.

05:38

💡 Enhancing Scene Depth with Lighting

This section focuses on adding depth to the scene by adjusting background opacity layers and global lighting effects. The creator discusses setting up multiple global lights for various scene layers, using the first light for the foreground with zero intensity and the second for the mid-ground. They also describe techniques for controlling the lighting of specific platforms in the game using shape lights and spotlighting the background to create a fantasy-like atmosphere. The section concludes with advice on choosing color schemes to avoid cluttering the game’s aesthetic.

10:39

🌫️ Adding Fog and Depth to the Scene

To add atmospheric depth, the creator introduces fog sprites, explaining how they are created in Photoshop with blurred white dots. These sprites are imported into Unity and used to enhance the sense of distance in the background. The creator also adds sprite lights, generated similarly to the fog sprites, and applies them selectively to specific layers. After some troubleshooting with fog panels affecting lighting, they suggest organizing these into dedicated layers for better visual control. More sprite lights are added to enhance the scene’s ambiance.

15:42

🌅 Applying Sprite Shape Lighting and Post-Processing Effects

This section discusses refining the lighting by ensuring sprite shapes are aligned on the same Z axis as the relevant assets to prevent parallax issues. Sunrays are created using volumetric lighting techniques, and more assets like grass and rocks are added to fill out the scene. The video then transitions to post-processing, where the creator introduces global volume settings to apply effects such as Bloom, color curves, and lift gamma gray. After experimenting with different post-processing effects, they caution viewers not to overuse these tools to avoid overwhelming the scene.

📷 Blurring the Background with Dual Camera Setup

In the final section, the creator demonstrates how to blur the background using a two-camera setup. By duplicating the main camera, they create a 'sharp' camera for foreground elements and a 'blur' camera for the background. Both cameras are assigned specific rendering layers, and post-processing is applied to the blurred camera only. After troubleshooting issues with global lighting affecting the background blur, the lights are reassigned to the correct layer. The section ends with fine-tuning the blur effect to achieve the desired result, adding the final touch to the scene.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡URP Pipeline

URP (Universal Render Pipeline) is a scriptable render pipeline in Unity that allows developers to optimize graphics and performance for various platforms. In the video, the developer transitions their scene to URP to improve rendering, though this process can cause issues with materials, as mentioned in the script.

💡Sorting Layers

Sorting layers in Unity are used to determine the rendering order of 2D sprites, ensuring that specific elements appear in front of or behind others. In the video, the developer creates multiple sorting layers (foreground, mid-ground, background) to better manage sprite display and create depth in the scene.

💡Global Lights

Global lights refer to lighting that affects the entire scene or specific layers in Unity. In the script, the developer explains how they create several global lights for different layers (foreground, mid-ground, background) to control the overall lighting of the game environment.

💡Sprite Lights

Sprite lights are a lighting feature in Unity that allows developers to illuminate specific 2D sprites or objects. The video shows the creator adding sprite lights to various assets like trees to enhance the atmosphere, while managing their effect using sorting layers.

💡Post Processing

Post processing involves adding visual effects to a game scene after rendering, such as bloom, depth of field, and color correction. The video discusses how the developer applies post-processing effects like bloom and lift gamma gain to enhance the cinematic quality of their scene.

💡Depth of Field

Depth of field (DoF) is a post-processing effect that simulates the blurring of distant objects, helping create visual focus on certain elements in a scene. The developer uses a depth of field effect in the video to blur the background, adding depth and emphasizing objects in the midground.

💡Volumetric Lighting

Volumetric lighting is a technique that adds visible beams of light in a 3D scene, often used to simulate sunlight filtering through fog or dust. The developer applies this technique to sun rays in the game, enhancing the visual mood and atmosphere.

💡Fog Sprites

Fog sprites are 2D images used to simulate fog or mist in a game scene. In the video, the developer creates fog sprites by blurring white dots in Photoshop and placing them in the Unity scene to add depth and atmosphere to the background layers.

💡Camera Stacking

Camera stacking is a technique in Unity where multiple cameras render different parts of a scene. The video explains how the developer uses this to achieve a blurred background effect by duplicating the main camera and adjusting the rendering layers and post-processing effects for each.

💡Bloom Effect

Bloom is a post-processing effect that simulates the glow of bright lights, often used to give a more dynamic and luminous look to a scene. In the video, the developer mentions adding bloom, though cautiously, as too much bloom can make the scene look overly bright or washed out.

Highlights

Introduction to the devlog explaining how the video will cover a more detailed breakdown of the simulation creation process.

Emphasizing the importance of documentation for solo developers to avoid forgetting key aspects of development over time.

Creating a new scene using the Universal Render Pipeline (URP) and warning about potential material issues during conversion.

Fixing sprite overlay issues by adjusting the rendering axes and implementing custom sorting layers for proper sprite organization.

Organizing the scene into foreground, mid-ground, and background layers to enhance visual depth and manage asset sorting.

Using blurred assets to create a sense of depth, applying more blur to distant objects and less to closer ones for visual distinction.

Demonstrating the use of multiple global lights to control the lighting for different scene layers, including foreground, mid-ground, and background.

Introducing the shape light tool for lighting specific scene elements, such as platforms where the player will interact.

Enhancing background visuals with spotlights and playing with color to create a fantasy or mysterious mood.

Adding fog sprites to the scene for atmospheric depth by creating blurred white dots in Photoshop and adjusting their transparency in Unity.

Introducing sprite lights for dynamic scene lighting and discussing issues with overlapping fog panels and sorting layers.

Using parallax effects to create depth in the scene and ensuring that sprite shapes align with the correct Z-axis for proper rendering.

Creating post-processing effects, such as Bloom and Lift Gamma Gain, to add cinematic depth and mood to the scene.

Demonstrating how to blur the background by duplicating cameras, applying post-processing effects, and separating camera layers for blurred and sharp elements.

Final step: Managing the global lights and blur layer interactions to properly display the Skybox and adjust the desired blur level for the background.