Postprocess controller
Template:Base point (Not available in 2013 SDK)
Bug:None of these effects work in 
except for vignette. [todo tested in ?]Entity description
An entity that controls the postprocess settings in the map: film grain, vignette, and local contrast. Color correction is controlled by another entity. It may be necessary to have at least one fog_volume in the map in order for a master postprocess_controller to take effect.
Film grain
Film grain heightens the frightening feeling of dark and shadowy environments. This helps make the cinematic experience as gritty and authentic as possible and effectively implies a greater detail to the surrounding darkness than is actually there. The technique avoids applying film grain uniformly as it causes players to get tired of it fast. Instead, in very dark areas with a lot of shadows, there is a lot of film grain visible. But the brighter an area gets, the more the grain fades into the background, and disappears entirely in very bright areas.
Vignette
Vignetting is a lens artifact you'll often see in lower budget films where cheap cameras were used: specifically, dark edges seeping in around the edges of the screen. Even still, it usually needs to be applied sparingly. As show in the example picture, the effect was only applied around all of the top edges of the screen, so a player wouldn't feel like they were looking through a telescope. A little goes a long way — playtesters don't feel like it intrudes their view at all. It also does a good job of softening the top edges, focusing the gameplay downwards to the center of the screen, where you want a player to look.
Local contrast
Local contrast is a technique borrowed from photo retouching, where the contrast is adjusted specifically on areas of an image that contain a high level of visual detail. This technique helps make the visuals sharper and more focused. It is a convenient way to effectively imitate the feeling of an adrenaline rush or near-death experience. The effect gives the player a sense of heightened perspective, and is a great subliminal way to foreshadow imminent danger.
Depth and full screen blur
Keyvalues
- Film grain strength [0..x] ([todo internal name (i)]) <float> (in all games since
) - Film grain strength
- Top-of-screen vignette strength [0..1] ([todo internal name (i)]) <float> (in all games since )
- Top-of-screen vignette strength
- Depth-blur focal plane distance [0..1] ([todo internal name (i)]) <float> (in all games since
) - Depth-blur focal plane distance
- Depth-blur effect strength [0..x] ([todo internal name (i)]) <float> (in all games since )
- Depth-blur effect strength
- Full-screen blur strength [0..1] ([todo internal name (i)]) <float> (in all games since )
- Full-screen blur strength
- Name (targetname) <string>[ Edit ]
- The name that other entities refer to this entity by, via Inputs/Outputs or other keyvalues (e.g.
parentnameortarget).
Also displayed in Hammer's 2D views and Entity Report.See also: Generic Keyvalues, Inputs and Outputs available to all entities
Flags
- 1 : Master (Has priority if multiple postprocess_controllers exist)
Inputs
- SetLocalContrastStrength <float>
- Set the local contrast strength.
- SetLocalContrastEdgeStrength <float>
- Set the local contrast strength at the edge of the screen (controlled by vignette).
- SetVignetteStart <float>
- Set the vignette start distance (from screen center).
- SetVignetteEnd <float>
- Set the vignette end distance.
- SetVignetteBlurStrength <float>
- Set the strength of the desaturated blur on the vignette.
- SetFadeToBlackStrength <float>
- Set the fadeout strength.
- SetDepthBlurFocalDistance <float> (in all games since )
- Set the focal distance of the depth blur effect (in the range [0,1]).
Outputs
See also
External links
L4D Art Direction, Part 1: Filmic Effects - Valve blog regarding film effects in Left 4 Dead