Show raw AO ?

[Boulotaur2024]

Hello 2 quick questions about AO :

Is there a way to show the raw AO output ?
I guess it means activating the 'development' checkbox, which is only available in Reshade development builds ?
How would I do that on Luma-framework ?

Also is Luma-framework builtin AO any better than 'native' MXAO ? Considering they are both GTAO based
(That's why I want to see the raw AO output to compare it to the MXAO one)

I guess unlike MXAO, it's not rendered on top of the final image, making unrealistic dark shadows on top of foggy scenes
Right ?

Also I've been following you since the Prey Luma era last year
I'm a huge fan of your work, this could go very far

[Izueh]

you can look at the raw AO output using a development build yes, just find the hash of the AO pass and use the debugger to draw the texture. Which game were you interested in comparing exactly?

[Michelp76]

Hey Izueh,
Sorry for the late reply,
I was looking into Deus Ex HR but I don't think there is currently a development build for it right (?)

This is how a "development build" should look like right ?
With the "-Dev" suffix ?
Or is the "-Test-" one ?

(Oops sorry, using my work account here, I'm the OP)

[garamond13]

Also is Luma-framework builtin AO any better than 'native' MXAO ? Considering they are both GTAO based
(That's why I want to see the raw AO output to compare it to the MXAO one)

I guess unlike MXAO, it's not rendered on top of the final image, making unrealistic dark shadows on top of foggy scenes
Right ?

Luma has no some general built in AO, it implements AO per game. So far in all cases by replacing games native AO with XeGTAO.

Yes, MXAO like any other ReShade effect gets rendered on top of everything. XeGTAO in Luma implementations is replacing games native AO.

Here's dev build for DXHR with XeGTAO implementation.
DXHR_dev_build.zip

If you wanna see raw AO do Frame Capture, find "PS 0xB8813A2F Copy" in the list and click on the icon/button next to it to draw it.
Also will need to enable "Debug Draw Options: Show Alpha" since AO is packed with normals as alpha.
If you want to see the games native AO just disable XeGTAO.

[Boulotaur2024]

I'm a little bit confused
Can I use some of your time please ?

So I clicked the glass icon right next to the "PS 0xB8813A2F Copy" shader and a new right-pane window opens
... With tons of options :

I cannot find the "Debug Draw Options: Show Alpha" option anywhere !

(Thanks for the dev build btw)

[garamond13]

After you debug draw the shader, in the Setting tab.

[Boulotaur2024]

Got it
That works

A lot better than default AO for sure
Thanks !

Still, I'd love to tweak the radius and other parameters
I'll look in the shader parameters I guess

[Boulotaur2024]

I mostly restored the default XeGTAO settings by tweaking Luma_DXHR_XeGTAO.hlsl shader file
And wow that AO is thick !

Almost too obvious
You made it a lot more subtle

Great tool

If only I could apply that same kind of treatment to GTA IV or Assassin's Creed Unity...

EDIT : wait, speaking about GTA IV
You said "XeGTAO in Luma implementations is replacing games native AO."
What if GTA IV does not have native AO ?
Impossible ?

[garamond13]

I went with smaller radius to overall match games native AO. Maybe it would be best to expose radius setting to users?
Overall other XeGTAO settings are set to match games native AO.

GTA IV is dx9 game and it seems like it doesn't have any native AO. Implementing AO to it is possible but it would be pain to do. I did it in Bioshock and Bioshock 2, both games don't have any native AO.

Assassin's Creed Unity is a dx11 game and it already has AO, so replacing its native AO should be easy.