Comparing GT Sport's Night-Time Nürburgring to the Real Thing

[GTPNewsWire]

This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:

Comparing GT Sport's Night-Time Nürburgring to the Real Thing

This article was published by Kyle Patrick (@SlipZtrEm) on August 29th, 2017 in the Gran Turismo Sport category.

 

[ImaRobot]

Headlights need to be just a tad bit brighter, but it's looking great. Loved hot lapping the 'Ring in night and rain conditions in Forza, and this will be no different.

 

[pasigiri]

Headlights need to be just a tad bit brighter, but it's looking great. Loved hot lapping the 'Ring in night and rain conditions in Forza, and this will be no different.

I agree. A tad brighter and PD pretty much NAILED night time driving as far as lighting is concerned.

 

[PzR Slim]

I said in another thread that featured this vid that PDi have done a great job with this. It is still a little dark but I don't think any dev has quite got it right but I don't blame them. In the real world it actually empty space that is being lit and that must be very hard to achieve in software.

 

[MenocidiX]

Yeah it's a bit too dark, but still great. A shame that there's no dynamic time.

 

[jm79]

That really is a fantastic video by @Yui-san - good work yo!

I said it before, but the darkness thing could be resolved in HDR? (this is a guess, anyone know enough about the tech to comment?)
I mean, perhaps it's more likely that the real footage is 'wrong' in this sense...

 

[PzR Slim]

That really is a fantastic video by @Yui-san - good work yo!

I said it before, but the darkness thing could be resolved in HDR? (this is a guess, anyone know enough about the tech to comment?)
I mean, perhaps it's more likely that the real footage is 'wrong' in this sense...

That's how it looks when I'm driving down country lanes with my full beams on so unless reality is wrong I think it's the games that are getting it wrong.

 

[jm79]

That's how it looks when I'm driving down country lanes with my full beams on so unless reality is wrong I think it's the games that are getting it wrong.

Haha, fair point. But you get what I mean about HDR? Brighter brights, darker darks and all that. I don't know the tech, but I've seen enough of Kaz hammering on about it in powerpoint presentations to get the basics

 

[PzR Slim]

Haha, fair point. But you get what I mean about HDR? Brighter brights, darker darks and all that. I don't know the tech, but I've seen enough of Kaz hammering on about it in powerpoint presentations to get the basics

I do really think it's to do with what I wrote above. In reality it's the empty space that is lit, except it's not really empty. Empty space in reality has lots of little particles of dust, moisture, etc floating about in it. We can't normally see it but shine bright lights on it and you can see it and this illuminates the empty space. I think that would be very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve with software.

 

[Leggacy]

I see a lot of people complaining that it's too dark. Video cameras tend to make it look brighter than it really is, in reality it's not quite what your eyes really see.
I think it looks really good, I can't wait to try it.

 

[PzR Slim]

I see a lot of people complaining that it's too dark. Video cameras tend to make it look brighter than it really is, in reality it's not quite what your eyes really see.
I think it looks really good, I can't wait to try it.

I'll trust what my eyes show me in my own car on a country lane will my full beams on nevermind specially prepared lights on a race car thanks.

 

[GPR]

Video cameras tend to make it look brighter than it really is, in reality it's not quite what your eyes really see.
I think it looks really good, I can't wait to try it.

Agree, but since we view GT on a screen (not counting VR) particularly in replays it should look more like a cameras rendition. Well I think so anyway.

Overall it's pretty darn good looking, I would also agree perhaps it needs a bit more cast of illumination and I don't think the HDR factor would create a big difference in this regard. In tonal contast and punch, yes, but more illumination I don't believe so.

The only other thing that I think should be tweaked is the glows, particularly closer to front on angles of the headlights it should look more flare like. But maybe that's more taxing on the system to do?

 

[jm79]

I do really think it's to do with what I wrote above. In reality it's the empty space that is lit, except it's not really empty. Empty space in reality has lots of little particles of dust, moisture, etc floating about in it. We can't normally see it but shine bright lights on it and you can see it and this illuminates the empty space. I think that would be very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve with software.

Yeah, I see what you mean. Kaz confirmed fog at night though didn't he? This is your point, but times 100... Will be interesting to see how that works!

 

[ImaRobot]

I see a lot of people complaining that it's too dark. Video cameras tend to make it look brighter than it really is, in reality it's not quite what your eyes really see.
I think it looks really good, I can't wait to try it.

If anything, the brightness may be fine, but the issue seems to be how far the actual lights illuminate.

 

[SDSPOWER01]

I think everyone who owns a license should probably try their cars on normal and then full beam at night in a dark place to try and replicate what is been shown in the gameplay video (Perhaps we can come to a conclusion).

As a driver myself experimenting this I believe what is shown in the build is the light in full beam (bright).
Though Kaz has spoken about Nits and HDR effects on the game and all it is really impressive what they are showing with this technology.

But IMO it does not capture the actual "accurate" illumination you will see when a car is on full beam.

So basically what @PzR Slim said is possibly the case here (with the empty space and software limitation). Also in real life a light on full beam could hurt/annoy your eyes so the actual brightness is pretty difficult to capture (I believe).

 

[Robbks]

Until we actually play it and view it though our own eyes with properly calibrated monitors with correct gamma settings, I'll reserve any judgement,
But the early signs are that it looks fantastic.

The Dynamic range of the naked human eye is very hard to replicate in video and a defined colour space.
you cannot even compare a video with "direct capture" footage as "like for like"

 

[trustjab]

Nurburgring is a dark place. If you drive through forest you know somewhat how it is. I know I don't have first hand experience, but take info from other forums and people who have driven and attended races there. It looks great, not 100% but no game is. Imo, it's the best looking night racing in terms of visuals I've seen from the new racing games.

 

[azeeza]

PD is on the right direction, they already test it on GT6, can't wait to see how they polish it on ps5 lol

 

[super_gt]

Spoiler: Comparison of the illumination of the road with pictures

 

[Saidur_Ali]

Will be interesting to see how it compares with HDR enabled, I reckon there will be a night and day difference.

Red Bull IIRC mentioned about night races first:

The quality improvement brought about by the enrichment in brightness capacity are most obvious during night races when cars have their beams on full and there exists an incredibly high level of contrast between the headlights and darkness around them. One of the problems with displaying this example of high contrast when playing without HDR is that the detail in the brightest areas of the screen is lost as their doesn't exist enough variations in luminance to differentiate between the dark areas and the darks, and the light and the very lightest. As such, for example, the outer edges of a headlight is indistinguishable from its inner core whereas it is visibly separate in HDR.

 

[SZRT Ice]

Wow PD... Just... Wow...

 

[m8h3r]

Hats off to PD with that, nailed it.

 

[Scaff]

I'll trust what my eyes show me in my own car on a country lane will my full beams on nevermind specially prepared lights on a race car thanks.

My work route is 10 miles on unlit country roads, part of which is through wooded areas (B4192 from Liddington to HUngerford in the UK if anyone wants to check the route) and in winter is totally dark.

PD's footage is very good, almost certainly the best I've seen to date in a sim, however its closer to the illumination you would get from older headlights on full. Halogens or LEDs give a much greater degree of illumination and a much greater range. Then you have the utterly bonkers Laser lights Audi used on the R18 eTron and also some roadcars.

In short PD is pretty much spot on for older headlights, and it will be interesting to see if it varies from car to car depending on what they should be fitted with.

 

[Lord Protector]

My work route is 10 miles on unlit country roads, part of which is through wooded areas (B4192 from Liddington to HUngerford in the UK if anyone wants to check the route) and in winter is totally dark.

PD's footage is very good, almost certainly the best I've seen to date in a sim, however its closer to the illumination you would get from older headlights on full. Halogens or LEDs give a much greater degree of illumination and a much greater range. Then you have the utterly bonkers Laser lights Audi used on the R18 eTron and also some roadcars.

In short PD is pretty much spot on for older headlights, and it will be interesting to see if it varies from car to car depending on what they should be fitted with.

Exactly my thoughts. The level of brightness shown in the video is very much like 90s headlights, not current tech.

 

[NixxxoN]

Just amazing, hats off to them

 

[JoaoSilva]

It looks super immersive and very realistic , along with the great new sounds. GT Sport has come a very long way since the early stages.

 

[super_gt]

Will be interesting to see how it compares with HDR enabled, I reckon there will be a night and day difference.

Red Bull IIRC mentioned about night races first:

I'm sure the illumination will be better with HDR enabled but for a fair comparison the real life video also should played on TV with HDR enabled and again the illumination in GT will be darker.I wonder how many players have HDR TV's and whether these players with HDR TV's will be faster in night races because their visibility is better.

 

[marcvic]

PD has a reputation for pushing graphical boundaries, and GTS looks to culminate all those years of skill. Sure, everything in this new generation of games looks amazing, but its clear that PD just have a knack for getting all the tiny details to come together to make something truly authentic. And the sounds combined with the Nurburgring atmosphere is the icing on the cake. I feel bad for the hard disk of my future PS4 - there's gonna be a lot of replay footage it'll have to deal with.

The modelers that spent the extra hours making sure headlight housings were perfect looks to be time well spent - the beams coming from the housing interacts with the modeled surfaces within to create something very authentic looking. Same goes for the way the headlights are reflecting off of the body panels and tires.

I'm curious to see all of the different lighting options. We know from past games there are low/high beams (don't know what was used in this video, no high beam indicator on the dash), but there has been footage of the Focus rally car with crazy "rally" beams. We also still need some info regarding customizing headlight colors - I could swear I saw some footage of a vehicle with red tinted headlights (I'll try to find it).

 

[KingK76]

That really is a fantastic video by @Yui-san - good work yo!

I said it before, but the darkness thing could be resolved in HDR? (this is a guess, anyone know enough about the tech to comment?)
I mean, perhaps it's more likely that the real footage is 'wrong' in this sense...

It will be interesting to see how HDR impacts this footage. I have to say it is quite amazing from my perspective... I do think that the way the video was presented made it look a little more realistic then it will be when played at home on a large TV however. It does look beautiful though.

 

[LivingWithGames]

Okaaay, now THIS is more like it.