Why are there lens flares in games? I see how blooming etc. makes sense since you see that with your eyes. But lens flares are a photographic phenomenon. In first person games I am playing as the character an see through his eyes and not through a camera implanted into his head, right? Is our perception so warped by movies and photographs that we define "realism" by what the camera sees and not by what we see with our own eyes? And even then, when was the last time you have actually seen a lens flare in a photograph or movie?

Modern high quality lenses (not cheaply made 15x zooms) are almost flare free if used properly. You will have a hard time producing a lens flare on purpose with some of them. But apparantly, even in SciFi, fantasy or medieval themed games, where cameras would either be very advanced or nonexistent, graphics programmers mimic the visual style of a canon powershot compact camera?

Would you PAINT lens flares?

Games have traditionally striven to be movies, favoring a cinematographic experience over a realistic one. Even modern HDR effects are based more on camera aperture and exposure techniques than our biological eyes. So when games first began approaching the realism levels that they could start to imitate cinema, they seized on lens flare as a cheap, easy effect that made it feel like a B movie.

This, combined with the fact that very, very few games ever make it above gaudy B movie status as far as writing and "cinematography" go, ensured that the lens flare would become a popular addition and live on.


Short version: It's because game developers wish they were making movies but none of them knows anything about movie production.

Quote: Original post by japroIs our perception so warped by movies and photographs that we define "realism" by what the camera sees and not by what we see with our own eyes?

Yes.

It might have something to do with video games appearing on TV, so we equate that to being shot through a camera rather than our own eyes. It might also have to do that a lot of lens flares are seen in space themed things and the only visual experiences of space that most people have are through photographs, so we expect them to be there.

It might also have to do with lens flares just looking cool regardless of how the real world actually works.

Quote: Original post by japro
Would you PAINT lens flares?

For a panning camera which a lot of games have? Yes.

Quote: Original post by way2lazy2care
It might also have to do with lens flares just looking cool regardless of how the real world actually works.

Exactly. Same reason why bloom gets overused or god rays. :P

Quote: Original post by Sirisian

Quote: Original post by japro
Would you PAINT lens flares?

For a panning camera which a lot of games have? Yes.

Well I meant on a canvas with a brush ;). I'd consider that equally absurd...

Quote: Original post by way2lazy2care

Quote: Original post by japroIs our perception so warped by movies and photographs that we define "realism" by what the camera sees and not by what we see with our own eyes?

Yes.

Simulating the tonemapping response of a human eye is unbelievably complicated, and impossible in realtime on current hardware. It's not even fully understood from a biological point of view. And of course, you would get a double tonemapping effect, since we still see our screen with our own eyes - applying yet another modification to the image.

In short, rendering 3D as a human eye would see it is impossible without a direct brain connection circumventing the neural preprocessing of the retina. Add to that the fact that each of us sees our environment slightly differently, due to genetic differences in the response curve of the retina, and possibly different psychovisual processing by the brain.

So yeah, we're all used to equating TV/cinema with a reproduction of reality. It's only normal that games try to mimic this.

Quote: Original post by japro

Quote: Original post by Sirisian

Quote: Original post by japro
Would you PAINT lens flares?

For a panning camera which a lot of games have? Yes.

Well I meant on a canvas with a brush ;). I'd consider that equally absurd...

oh lol. Not sure. I've never seen Bob Ross put a lens flare. nuff said.

Also lens flares are present in 3rd person view games like Ocarina of Time, in which it seems more intuitive to think that we are looking at the world through a floating camera following the main character. Such games probably contributed to the lens flare popularity.

Quote: Original post by Yann L

Quote: Original post by way2lazy2care

Quote: Original post by japroIs our perception so warped by movies and photographs that we define "realism" by what the camera sees and not by what we see with our own eyes?

Yes.

Simulating the tonemapping response of a human eye is unbelievably complicated, and impossible in realtime on current hardware. It's not even fully understood from a biological point of view. And of course, you would get a double tonemapping effect, since we still see our screen with our own eyes - applying yet another modification to the image.

In short, rendering 3D as a human eye would see it is impossible without a direct brain connection circumventing the neural preprocessing of the retina. Add to that the fact that each of us sees our environment slightly differently, due to genetic differences in the response curve of the retina, and possibly different psychovisual processing by the brain.

So yeah, we're all used to equating TV/cinema with a reproduction of reality. It's only normal that games try to mimic this.

I have long eyelashes, which means if I look into a bright light and twinkle, I see some pretty big and complex streaks and thin light curves because of my shiny eyelashes.

Not the mention that it's impossibly to display the focus of the eye: it's not that only the periphery is blurred, you sometimes can't even sense the colors/shapes of things in the peryphery (that's a philosophical stuff: you see it, but you cannot "decode" the image. Disturbing to think about it, so i go to bed).

Quote: Original post by Sirisian
I've never seen Bob Ross put a lens flare. nuff said.

Haha! Quite possibly the best GDNet statement I've ever seen.