A Look At NVIDIA’s Ansel Screenshot Tool In Pro Evolution Soccer 2018

As covered last month, NVIDIA’s Ansel screenshot technology makes its debut in a sports game through Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 2018, or PES 2018 for short. So far, the game has been enjoying some good reception from fans, but hopefully those fans playing on the PC and running a GeForce graphics card decide to tinker with the Ansel feature, because you can capture some really stunning shots with it.

Those wanting a detailed look at Ansel should head here; otherwise, I will simply say that it’s an integrated screenshot tool that requires a game to support it, and if one does, you can manipulate the camera as you wish, apply effects, and even capture stills at ridiculously high resolutions (think gigapixel territory).

Being that most people play games like PES online with friends, using Ansel in the middle of a match is impossible. So, what you’ll actually be using Ansel inside of are the replays. Once in a replay, you can adjust it to the exact frame you want, and then hit Alt + F2 to open Ansel and manipulate the camera as you see fit.

I’m awful at most sports titles, so I don’t usually go out of my way to play a game like PES, but on the flipside, I’m a big football fan and loved the idea of being able to create custom shots – or even recreate real-world instances in digital form (easier said than done, to say the least, especially if we’re talking historical matches).

To mess around with PES 2018‘s Ansel implementation, I loaded up some example matches and tried to get some great-looking captures. These are not going to be considered gold standard by any means, which is a testament to how easy it is to capture great shots, because some of these really please me.

Here’s one of Arsenal’s Peter Cech securing a not-so-difficult save:

Who doesn’t love a quality Suarez goal? The ball went straight to the keeper here, but look at how good it looks!

The next game I configured ended up being a huge coincidence: A.C. Milan vs. Udinese. The coincidence being that, after I took the screenshot, I ran to Google quick to make sure I was spelling Udinese’s name correctly, and to my surprise, both teams played each other the very same day (2-1 for Milan). It’s unfortunate my screenshot doesn’t match the excitement of me stumbling on that coincidence.

Here’s a shot of Portugal’s Sporting CP and FC Porto (note the tilt):

If you’re wondering if all shots have to be close-up, the answer is no:

You can move the camera as high as you want, or at least high enough to escape the top of the Emirates Stadium seen in the shot above. You might be disappointed by what you see up there, though: nothingness surrounding the stadium. That’s to be expected, since normal gameplay will never reveal what’s outside.

As mentioned above, you can also add some filters to your shots, either to enhance them, or replicate a certain look. Brazil vs. Italy + the retro filter can give a result like this:

You could also use the Sketch feature to turn an AC Monaco vs. PSG match from this…

… into this:

I can’t speak to the gameplay quality of PES 2018, but I can say that its Ansel support is top-notch, and all-around a lot of fun to use. If you’re a GeForce user, it should only be an Alt + F2 away.