Week 6 Tutorial - Cinemachine and Post-Processing

To add final visual flair to the Antarctica scene, I experimented with cinematic camera effects using the Cinemachine package for Unity, and added post-processing effects that activate in specific scenarios.

I thought that the aurora I made last week would be something that would draw attention, so for the first camera shot I made the camera switch to a new angle looking up at the sky when the player approaches the hut and aurora. 

The camera will pan to look up at the aurora on approach

I also made a dolly camera rig, where the camera mimics a real life dolly camera by following the action along a marked track.  I decided to have the track running parallel to the fences, so that the camera would turn to look at the huts when the player walked past them.

Dolly camera follows the player along a track

When it came to adding post processing effects, I felt that the aurora didn’t create a sufficient glow when viewed up close, so I added a colour-grading effect that changes the post-exposure of the scene to make it appear brighter, and also applies a green colour filter to bring out the colour of the aurora.  The effect is triggered when the player stands near the aurora.

 A bright green glow will happen when near the aurora

I also thought that post-processing could help enhance the enemy interaction with the player.  I added a trigger detection zone to the enemies so that when they are close to the player, a creepy effect with a red tint and chromatic aberration will distort the player’s vision and create a greater tension as they try to escape.  It also helps alert the player if an enemy has snuck up on them.

 A red colour change will alert you to being in danger

And there you have it!  I thoroughly enjoyed working on this project and learned a lot about many Unity features that were new to me, such as shaders, the navigation mesh and terrain tools, as well as understanding the new challenges and techniques of developing in three dimensions.  I look forward to continuing to learn 3D game development in Unity and hopefully revisiting this scene to further bring it to life.