In 2022, I introduced you to James Brown, the Weta Workshop graphics engineer whose pastime is constructing wonderful shows. Now, he’s constructed a crystal ball stuffed with shimmering, spinning volumetric mild — and naturally he’s enjoying Doom on it.
However not simply any Doom. Voxel Doom, the place each dot of the sport’s graphics lives in 3D space, identical to the dots of the volumetric show he’s created.
As he explains on YouTube, the bodily phantasm is pretty easy: “It’s like a hologram fan, however as an alternative of spinning a 1D strip to make a 2D picture, it spins a 2D panel to make a 3D picture.” On his Mastodon, he breaks it down a bit extra with visual aids:
Brown’s been engaged on this for over a 12 months now: if I’m not mistaken, he launched the mission in August 2023 by channeling his inner Doc Brown, saying “If my calculations are right, when this child hits 300rpm you’re going to see some severe shit.” However he’s since found it must spin a very good bit sooner than that for a easy picture, notably when he’s attempting to movie it. So preserve your fingers away.
You possibly can comply with his progress on his Mastodon, the place he’s not simply enjoying Doom — you will discover volumetric lunar landers and skulls and dino heads, for instance. He simply revealed this to his YouTube too:
GIF by Sean Hollister / The Verge; Video by James Brown
And sure, they’ll play Doom.