Madden NFL 11 News Post

Madden NFL 11 Blog: Lighting Improvements

05:16 PM - June 30, 2010 by myownsun

Patrick Cowan, Lighting Artist for Madden NFL 11, has posted a new blog on the lighting improvements.

Quote:


	"I'm Patrick Cowan, Lighting Artist for EA Sports in Orlando. In the article that follows, I will be sharing a few of the exciting improvements to our lighting approach in Madden NFL 11, with a focus on increased broadcast fidelity. Some of the more dramatic examples of these changes can be seen in our night games and dome stadiums, so much of what follows will address those game settings. Due to the fact that both settings are lit primary by artificial light sources, they present unique challenges to the artist. Stadiums One of the ways we pushed for increased broadcast integrity was in the lighting of our stadiums. Previously our night and dome stadiums were lit for maximum visibility of the crowd and thus were not consistent with typical broadcast camera exposures. In Madden 11 we attempted to better emulate how stadiums appear when the exposure is set for the action on the field. Using a variety of reference material, we attempted to closely approximate the patterns of light and shadow unique to the individual stadiums. In real world photography, the light and dark values of a subject can vary considerably from shot to shot depending on the exposure settings. In Madden NFL we are working with one universal exposure, so it was necessary to create a unified look which works across the board, regardless of which of our hundreds of animated cameras is active. The end result is night and dome stadiums which have considerably more contrast and shape to the lighting than in previous versions of the game and tonal values for the crowd which prevent it from visually competing with the action during game play."

Game: Madden NFL 11Reader Score: 6/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Xbox 360Votes for game: 96 - View All

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Member Comments

# 41 NELL86 @ 07/01/10 07:58 AM

NICE!!!!! Now lets hope they can polish gameplay before release. I still havent gave up hope on madden 11

# 42 Skyliner80 @ 07/01/10 12:17 PM

Lighting looks great. Now, can they fix the feed from the JUMBOTRON. It shouldn't mirror what you're seeing on screen. It should be a 'free camera'......that is...if they're trying to be authentic. When a player is watching himself on the screen...it shouldn't be the same perspective you're looking at as you play....it should by from a side broadcast view.

# 43 KANE699 @ 07/01/10 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R9NALD9


	It troubles me that they still can't see that the color of the grass is still way off. The lighting is a major improvement on M10, no doubt, but they still have some way to go before getting it absolutely right! Arent' games supposed to be more colorful etc. In this screenshots the videogame looks so pale against real life. I remember Kazunori Yamauchi (the creator of Gran Turismo) talking about videogames having the advantage in the sense that they can manipulate lighting to the extent that the colors etc. look better than real life, more colorful etc. Good job EA, but it can still be better! I'm not bitching though, just dissapointed, that the color of the grass is again too pale and unrealistic! And the ironic thing is, it will take a matter of seconds to make it better! Maybe EA can send the grass textures to me and I'll be happy to correct them.

Really depends on the camera and the time of day what color the grass looks like.

As you can see getting the grass just right isn't that easy, not to mention that original picture of M&T is from a few years back you can tell by the kickoff logos.

# 44 canes21 @ 07/01/10 12:40 PM

My biggest problem between Madden 11 and the real picture is that in Madden 11 the sky is purple. In real life it is basically all black. I guess if thats my biggest problem thats a good sign.

# 45 KANE699 @ 07/01/10 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by canes21


	My biggest problem between Madden 11 and the real picture is that in Madden 11 the sky is purple. In real life it is basically all black. I guess if thats my biggest problem thats a good sign.

That's light runoff only coming from around the stadium lights.

# 46 canes21 @ 07/01/10 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Segagendude


	Madden 08 had really detailed grass, probably some of the best in NG. Unfortunately, the frame rates suffered. (On the PS3) I don't want that again. The grass is fine, if at the very least it makes for a smoother running game.

I actually think grass is too detailed. I would rather have it look something like APF 2k8's and have a better looking crowd than what we have now. Look at the picture reference in the blog of the real game and look at the Madden 11 example of that game. The grass is way too detailed.

# 47 oneamongthefence @ 07/01/10 02:43 PM

Wow. If the game looks better it is better.

# 48 CaliDude916 @ 07/01/10 02:49 PM

Looks great!

# 49 steelernation28 @ 07/01/10 04:18 PM

Beautiful. Lighting can really make or break a game aesthetically.

# 50 gmitch23 @ 07/01/10 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R9NALD9


	It troubles me that they still can't see that the color of the grass is still way off. The lighting is a major improvement on M10, no doubt, but they still have some way to go before getting it absolutely right! Arent' games supposed to be more colorful etc. In this screenshots the videogame looks so pale against real life. I remember Kazunori Yamauchi (the creator of Gran Turismo) talking about videogames having the advantage in the sense that they can manipulate lighting to the extent that the colors etc. look better than real life, more colorful etc. Good job EA, but it can still be better! I'm not bitching though, just dissapointed, that the color of the grass is again too pale and unrealistic! And the ironic thing is, it will take a matter of seconds to make it better! Maybe EA can send the grass textures to me and I'll be happy to correct them.

Hey R9nald9 i totally agree with you on the grass color, also if the white lettering on the field and the white t shirts in the stands were a lot brighter like they are in the photo it would make it look so much better in the madden 11 shot. Dont get me wrong im not still complaining because it looks great compared to last years, just making an observation.

# 51 Maniac-64- @ 07/01/10 06:49 PM

Everything I have seen here looks amazing.

# 52 SouthernBrick @ 07/01/10 07:11 PM

Lovin' the new lighting. I hope it looks as good as these screen shots.

# 53 Pacman83 @ 07/01/10 07:27 PM

^^^REALLY loved that show...Hilarious!...Would you like some Pancakes?

I'm actually kinda blow away by this blog, never knew the graphics could get so much better...nicely done. Now to hoping the rest fall into place, slowly getting there...

# 54 Holic @ 07/01/10 07:40 PM

I'm loving the new dome lighting. I got so tired of playing games at home with the Falcons in my franchise.

# 55 PolkHigh33 @ 07/01/10 10:36 PM

Cool ..

Lighting makes such a difference ..

# 56 R9NALD9 @ 07/02/10 01:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmitch23


	Hey R9nald9 i totally agree with you on the grass color, also if the white lettering on the field and the white t shirts in the stands were a lot brighter like they are in the photo it would make it look so much better in the madden 11 shot. Dont get me wrong im not still complaining because it looks great compared to last years, just making an observation.

Agreed gmitch23! My thoughts exactly, if they can now push the whites to be white like they are in the real life shot, it will make such a difference!

My gripe with the whole progressive lighting thing is this...
This year they worked on lighting, wouldn't it have been a great opportunity just to include progressive lighting since they are working on lighting? What are the chances of them including it next year when they won't redo the lighting? Just my thoughts...

# 57 SeaNNyT @ 07/02/10 03:49 AM

NCAA has lighting changes every quarter. They could have at least done that.

# 58 gmitch23 @ 07/02/10 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R9NALD9


	Agreed gmitch23! My thoughts exactly, if they can now push the whites to be white like they are in the real life shot, it will make such a difference! My gripe with the whole progressive lighting thing is this... This year they worked on lighting, wouldn't it have been a great opportunity just to include progressive lighting since they are working on lighting? What are the chances of them including it next year when they won't redo the lighting? Just my thoughts...

You would think progressive lighting would be an easy addition, its not like they have never done it before. What i'm surprised about is that NCAA really looks better "lighting wise" than Madden.

# 59 Big_Mig_11 @ 07/02/10 12:46 PM

By far the best blog IMO, and I don't really care about lighting. But this looks amazing and I am happy it has been addressed; especially the scoreboard lighting

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