Visual effects development 1

Module title:

Visual effects development 1

Module overview:

The aim of this module is to teach students the basics of creating visual effects in computer games. Students will learn the basic theory about the design of visual effects and what their role is, and which type of visual effects is suitable for a particular case. It will be practically taught how to create visual effects based on particle systems and how to create visual effects on the 3D objects of the computer game itself. Through examples of good practice, students will gain insight into how to create visual effects in a practical way.
Visual effects are an indispensable part of computer games, so it is important to learn how to implement basic types of visual effects in computer games. Computer game developers will work with visual effects designers, so it is very important that they learn the basic terminology and basic characteristics of creating visual effects to be able to implement them in an adequate way in computer game engines.
Students will learn:
- what are visual effects in computer games
- the role of visual effects in computer games
- types of visual effects in computer games
- basic principles of creating visual effects
- stages of development of visual effects
- implement visual effects with the help of the particle system
- implement visual effects on computer game objects
- create hybrid visual effects
- good practices on how to do typical visual effects

Literature:

Required readings:
1. Doran, J. P. (2021) Unity 2021 Shaders and Effects Cookbook: Over 50 recipes to help you transform your game into a visually stunning masterpiece. 4th edn. Packt Publishing.
2. Ramos, B. B., Doran, J. P. (2019) Unreal Engine 4 Shaders and Effects Cookbook: Over 70 recipes for mastering post-processing effects and advanced shading techniques. Packt Publishing.

Supplementary readings: