Shimmering texture problem

[Siiilent]

Hi guys, I'm new here.I've got a problem with shimmering textures on liveries (!only on them). It seems to be a problem.I've tried to figure out why this happens and partly solved this problem by adding MIP-maps to every texture of plane's livery. (The problem affects not all the liveries) But I know this is not normal and not all the liveries are available for mip-map adding with imagetool.Also this is not good because about 80% of the aircrafts except of some PMDG and Defaults are shimmering.Let me show you some screenshots:(press for fullscreen: http://i54.tinypic.com/2cr6kog.jpg) P.S.: I've searched alot, but nothing helped. Also I've seen this shimmering effect on other user screenshots.Specs:9600GT3GB DDR2Core2Duo E6850\3GHZ Also I heard about and tryed to do something with LOD Bias (looks like it controls this effect), it works only for modded-by-me liveries. :\

[drewsaw2]

Welcome to the forums! Do you have filtering set to anisotropic?

[Guest firehawk44]

When I was running FSX on my old system with the 8800GTX video cards, the clamping the LOD Bias in the display driver settings instantly removed shimmering for me. With my current system with the 580GTX card, it doesn't work at all. I get some shimmering but it is definitely reduced from what I got with the 8800 cards. I have my FSX display driver settings set to default which means NO anti-aliasing and NO anisotropic (but it's turned on in FSX). I get no shimmering on commercial or default aircraft but do get some minor shimmering around some ground objects. Is your FPS limiter set to Unlimited? Try lowering this setting to the default - 25. Best regards,Jim

[Siiilent]

Welcome to the forums! Do you have filtering set to anisotropic?

Yes, drewsaw2, my settings are nearly maxed.

When I was running FSX on my old system with the 8800GTX video cards, the clamping the LOD Bias in the display driver settings instantly removed shimmering for me. With my current system with the 580GTX card, it doesn't work at all. I get some shimmering but it is definitely reduced from what I got with the 8800 cards. I have my FSX display driver settings set to default which means NO anti-aliasing and NO anisotropic (but it's turned on in FSX). I get no shimmering on commercial or default aircraft but do get some minor shimmering around some ground objects. Is your FPS limiter set to Unlimited? Try lowering this setting to the default - 25. Best regards,Jim

Jim, I've tried Negative LOD Bias to Clamp, to Allow, and even more tested it with nvidia Inspector from 3 to -3, nothing happened with screen 1.1 and 1.2, but affected 2.1 and 2.2 just like I wanted. (Like I wrote in the first message - I've played with MIP-MAPPING manually. Anyway, my settings are default in video driver. In fsx are:FPS limit - Unlimited, but I use external limiter set to 30 fps. I have also tried with 25 limit in fsx, nothing happened with shimmering.Text. filtering - AnisotropicAntialiasing - OnAircraft settings - max PS: almost 95% of payware and additional, not default aircraft have shimmering on textures. They're most in BMP livery format, almost 90% of DDS liveries are running good to me.

[Guest firehawk44]

Yes, drewsaw2, my settings are nearly maxed. Jim, I've tried Negative LOD Bias to Clamp, to Allow, and even more tested it with nvidia Inspector from 3 to -3, nothing happened with screen 1.1 and 1.2, but affected 2.1 and 2.2 just like I wanted. (Like I wrote in the first message - I've played with MIP-MAPPING manually. Anyway, my settings are default in video driver. In fsx are:FPS limit - Unlimited, but I use external limiter set to 30 fps. I have also tried with 25 limit in fsx, nothing happened with shimmering.Text. filtering - AnisotropicAntialiasing - OnAircraft settings - max PS: almost 95% of payware and additional, not default aircraft have shimmering on textures. They're most in BMP livery format, almost 90% of DDS liveries are running good to me.

I'm a bit confused. I just use the Nvidia display driver control panel. I do not use Nvidia Inspector or the external limiter (which I read somewhere causes problems). You state your video card drivers are set to default but you have anisotropic settings are nearly maxed. So that's the same thing as maxing out the AF settings in the Nvidia display drivers controls. Have you played with this nearly maxed AF setting? Perhaps it is set too high. Plus you have it turned on in the application. Seems to me the high AF setting would enhance an object even more than what the product was made for and it subsequently enhances any minor shimmering. I doubt the commercial developers made you pay for shimmering textures. There is a setting that's creating the problem (otherwise we would all have it right?) and I suspect it is located in the Nvidia Inspector. It could be your laptop too. I don't know about FSX running really great on a laptop and think it is best suited for a desktop. Sorry I can't be of further assistance but good luck in getting it fixed. Best regards,Jim

[Siiilent]

I'm a bit confused. I just use the Nvidia display driver control panel. I do not use Nvidia Inspector or the external limiter (which I read somewhere causes problems). You state your video card drivers are set to default but you have anisotropic settings are nearly maxed. So that's the same thing as maxing out the AF settings in the Nvidia display drivers controls. Have you played with this nearly maxed AF setting? Perhaps it is set too high. Plus you have it turned on in the application. Seems to me the high AF setting would enhance an object even more than what the product was made for and it subsequently enhances any minor shimmering. I doubt the commercial developers made you pay for shimmering textures. There is a setting that's creating the problem (otherwise we would all have it right?) and I suspect it is located in the Nvidia Inspector. It could be your laptop too. I don't know about FSX running really great on a laptop and think it is best suited for a desktop. Sorry I can't be of further assistance but good luck in getting it fixed. Best regards,Jim

Jim, I agree, it's confusing. But I've installed nVidia Inspoector just yesterday to try to manually change LOD Bias setting. I don't use modified AF setting anywhere. Nvidia CP is set to default. Inspector is 100% not the problem.BTW, thanks for trying to resolve this, Jim.

[Siiilent]

Up!Why this happens?Why!?!?

[Paul J]

Here's a fix from someone else - author unknown, so sorry, I don't know who to credit. Shimmering textures... I fixed it by editing the file "Terrain.fxh" in the fsx folder: ShadersHLSL\Terrain\ I changed this: (line 66) sampler BaseSampler = sampler_state{Texture = (BaseTexture);AddressU = Clamp;AddressV = Clamp;MinFilter = D3DTEXF_ANISOTROPIC;MagFilter = D3DTEXF_ANISOTROPIC;MipFilter = (State_MipFilter);MipMapLodBias = -2;}; to: sampler BaseSampler = sampler_state{Texture = (BaseTexture);AddressU = Clamp;AddressV = Clamp;MinFilter = D3DTEXF_ANISOTROPIC;MagFilter = D3DTEXF_ANISOTROPIC;MipFilter = (State_MipFilter);MipMapLodBias = (State_MipMapLodBias);} Also you could alter the AA settings to SuperSample, but then you lose a lot of FPS in the clouds