"Avatar" the 2009, epic science fiction movie by James Cameron was not only a technological and cinematic marvel, but it also created a benchmark in visual fidelity.
Previously, "Crysis" had set high standards, but now, the benchmark for all digital, cinematic, and gaming media is James Cameron's "Avatar." AMD said that the next generation Xbox will be able to produce "Avatar"-like graphics, and Geomerics could also hit the benchmark.
CinemaBlend interviewed Dr. Chris Doran, co-founder of Geomerics, which specializes in creating lighting technology for the video game industry. The company is also responsible for the lighting mechanics via the Enlighten engine found in Frostbite 2.0 games like Battlefield 3 and Need for Speed: The Run.
Doran stated that all that Enlighten wants is a new hardware, as its software development tools are ahead of hardware development. This has already been proved in the GPU implementation that has been developed in collaboration with NVIDIA, which is faster than the ones presently available.
"With Enlighten," Doran said, "there are a number of ways we expect to see the quality bar lifted.
"Where the graphics quality bar will end up is unclear, but I am confident that the lighting itself could get close to Avatar quality. Then the question moves onto other aspects of content creation. Is that level of modelling detail feasible, and will the animation, physics, and AI all be equally plausible. And finally, will the game be any good!"
A little while ago, Christoph Hartmann, head of 2K Games said that the next step in gaming design will be photorealism.
According to GamingBlend photorealism in reality is not the only thing that makes gaming more fun. Lighting, when used creatively, will give depth and intrigue to games, making them come to life.
One has to wait and watch to see if developers will get creative with tools like Enlighten or if they just showcase their ability to produce high-fidelity images, GamingBlend said.
