Creating Bloom Filters in Panda3D

Overview

• This episode focuses on creating bloom filters in Panda3D.
• Bloom filters add a glowing halo around bright objects in a scene.
• Review of various filters available in Panda3D such as cartoon inker, volumetric lighting, and ambient occlusion.

Importing Common Filters

• Library: from direct.filter.CommonFilters import CommonFilters
• Class: CommonFilters

Creating a Bloom Filter

1. Instantiate CommonFilters Object: filters = CommonFilters(window, camera)

   • Parameters:
     • window: Reference to the application window (e.g., self.window)
     • camera: Reference to the application camera (e.g., self.cam)

2. Set Bloom Filter: filters.setBloom()

   • This step enables the bloom effect in the scene.

3. Customization Options:

   • Blending: Adjusts how the bloom blends with other colors.
   • Trigger: Sets the minimum brightness for the effect.
   • Size: Adjusts the size of the halo (e.g., size="large"). Example: filters.setBloom(size="large") results in a larger halo effect.

Advanced Filters

• Mention of other filters like volumetric lighting, screen space ambient occlusion, etc.
• Users can create custom filters using CG or GLSL shaders, requiring knowledge of shader programming.

Conclusion

• Experiment with different filters available in Panda3D.
• Custom shaders can be created for unique effects.
• More tutorials on filters to come.