Silicon Studios’ Yebis 2, a post processing effects middleware, attracted a fair amount of attention when it was revealed to have been used for the E3 2013 trailer of Final Fantasy 15. Speaking to GamingBolt, lead architect Masaki Kawase talked about the benefits of using DirectX 12 in conjunction with Yebis 2 (answers transcribed by GM and R&D engineer Colin Magne).

Yebis 2 currently supports DirectX 11 and while DX 12 is out next year, what kind of performance gains can we expect for, say, HDR and anti-aliasing in post? Kawase says, “DX12 is helping gain CPU performance while sending commands to the GPU. Yebis is actually very fast on the CPU even with DX11. DX12 will accelerate that even more.”

Speaking about Microsoft’s recent demonstration of Cloud technology at the Build 2014 event (which served as the basis for gameplay footage in the new Crackdown), we asked if there was any potential to improve a game’s visuals using the Cloud and how exactly Yebis 2 could benefit from this.

“Yebis can be applied to any type of rendering engines. In the case of cloud computing where the power of the cloud can render very realistic worlds, it does make sense to use Yebis. The more you get close to realism, the more seeing this world through a physically simulated camera becomes needed.”

Thoughts? Let us know below.

Persistant Studios’s PopcornFX finally has a new version with 1.5.5 and offers improved particle effects generation for next gen development and VFX. The middleware offers the benefit of particles that can be fully scripted. An extensive library preset also makes things easier for non-technical artists.

With version 1.5.5, PopcornFX has introduced enhanced performance and optimizations for each platform; a flexible scripting system that makes for rapid prototyping; effects metrics and cost control thanks to its data driven design; and customizable effects attributes for gameplay.

Other highlights include the ability to access effect attributes from evolve scripts; accessing parent particle properties using the new “parent-fields” features; workflow improvements for the editor; and the ability to view details in the content browser.

Let us know what you think of PopcornFX v.1.5.5 and its new features in the comments. You can also head to the main site for more information on the benefits the particle system offers.