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

# 21 Unforgiven @ 06/30/10 08:13 PM

Looks really cool. Looking a lot like Madden 07 which in my opinion was the best looking game from a technical standpoint.

# 22 poster @ 06/30/10 08:55 PM

Those do look really nice. Man, if they can add progressive lighting to this system next year.

# 23 red-and-gold @ 06/30/10 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poster


	Those do look really nice. Man, if they can add progressive lighting to this system next year.

whats progressive lighting, didnt they have that in the game before.

# 24 Blitzburgh @ 06/30/10 09:41 PM

WOW! Very impressive! That last pic of the Steelers was really amazing! I only wish we had more camera options to take us down on the field more like in that screen.

# 25 rspencer86 @ 06/30/10 10:25 PM

It really is amazing what some tweaks to lighting can do for the overall look of the game. I applaud the visual team at EA for really focusing on this, both in Madden and NCAA.

# 26 Tengo Juego @ 06/30/10 10:50 PM

Really shows in these comparisons. Is it just me, or does the white(on shoes in particular) look dingy? Almost grey-ish in some cases.

# 27 poster @ 06/30/10 11:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by red-and-gold


	whats progressive lighting, didnt they have that in the game before.

Yes, it was in the game previously. Not sure exactly the last time it was in?

The lighting progresses as the game progresses depending on the time of year. 3:15 PM kickoffs in November taking place in Chicago or NY start in daylight, and it gradually fades to night time as an example.

They re-did the whole lighting system, so hopefully next year they can add progressive lighting to improve it even more.

# 28 kehlis @ 06/30/10 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poster


	They re-did the whole lighting system, so hopefully next year they can add progressive lighting to improve it even more.

Yea, I will admit that I am disappointed it wasn't put in this year. It has been something we have been hoping would be in for the last couple years now.

# 29 BaselineBakes @ 07/01/10 01:14 AM

Great blog, great pics.. getting more and more excited about the madden release.

# 30 dustinrr @ 07/01/10 01:16 AM

I have noticed the scoreboard illumination in earlier screen shots and I think behind progressive lighting it is (was) one of the most needed aesthetic upgrades. The Cowboys Stadium screen shot says it all, I really hope it gets implemented into NCAA 12. It is a shame to have beautifully detailed stadiums with dull, unlit scoreboards.

# 31 TreyIM2 @ 07/01/10 01:31 AM

Funny how I originally wanted Madden 11 to have the new lighting in NCAA 11...until the demo came out. I then appreciated the brighter lighting of Madden 10, more, but now that's being improved to a more realistic look and it's looking pretty good. I like this.

# 32 statum71 @ 07/01/10 01:41 AM

Fine detail is what makes The Show so great. Nice to see you guys applying that to Madden EA.

Impressive.

# 33 Sausage @ 07/01/10 01:47 AM

I cannot wait to play this more than ever.

# 34 RayDog253 @ 07/01/10 01:47 AM

Really does make a difference, I especially like the brightness clipping.

# 35 R9NALD9 @ 07/01/10 02:40 AM

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.

# 36 Valdarez @ 07/01/10 03:25 AM

It's nice to see that whites will finally be white, instead of that grayish color they've been in the past versions of Madden.

Wished they fix the rendering problems and add proper transition animations and incidental contact animations so the game looks good while playing and not just when taking still shots.

# 37 bonannogiovanni @ 07/01/10 04:07 AM

Great blog BUT......no progressive lighting 2 years in a row is a huge bummer for me.

# 38 monkeybutlerz @ 07/01/10 04:14 AM

I know I'm REALLY nit picking here, but I wish they had the proper green for the Ravens field. It's a detail that stands out to me when I watch it on TV, I wish this was the case in the game.

# 39 Exonerated @ 07/01/10 05:49 AM

Long. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference unless there was a side-by-side comparison.

# 40 rooney8 @ 07/01/10 06:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Exonerated


	Long. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference unless there was a side-by-side comparison.

Coaches look way better, the rest I wouldn't have noticed without being told to be honest.

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