Help with some graphical anomalies

[rooby007 0]

Hi everyone,

 

Slowly working my way through Paul's excellent tuning document, specifically the DX10 part.

 

Have set up the basics as far as page 21 and am now test-flying.

 

Have started to notice several graphical anomalies, some of which are new and some of which were there in DX9 mode. Would really appreciate some help  or pointers on where the root causes are likely to be. I've attached some screenshots at this link to help illustrate the problems. Brief description of each below:

 

I'm using ORBX PNW and test flying from Anacortes (ORBX payware) in Alabeo Extra 300 and RealAir Duke B60. Also using REX 2.0 Essentials and EzDok Camera.

 

Pic 1 & 2: Have noticed the runway textures flash noticeably when viewed from any camera other than the virtual cockpit. It's as though the ORBX texture is fighting with the default / REX texture underneath and they can't decide which one should be on top. Strange how isn't doesn't happen from the VC though. Have unticked runway textures in REX but not sure, as that the have been loaded once, if this unloads them. 

 

Pic 3 & 4: Doing setup with clear skies as per the guide. Have noticed in any tight or moderate turn that I can see the sky being shaded at the extremities of the screen. Surprised as my hardware has handled some pretty heavy weather in the past that it seems to be struggling to keep up with a plain blue sky!?

 

Pic 5: Momentarily, when switching from an exterior camera back to the VC, I get this weird effect on the windows and instruments. In DX9, I sometimes got everything 'greyed out' while the textures loaded, but not this. Only happens in the RealAir aircraft.

 

My hardware spec: i7-2600K @ 3.8GHz / Asus P8Z77-V / Corsair AX850 / 8GB Mushkin Redline 7-7-7-24 / GTX580 1.5Gb / HyperX 120Gb SSD / Samsung F3 1TB / VelociRaptor 300Gb (FSX) / FSX Acceleration / Win7 64 HP

 

Any thoughts gratefully received!! 

 

Andy

[Paul J 349]

We'll fix the easy one first, Andy! Go here, and completely replace your existing ShadersHLSL folder with this one, then delete the Shaders cache folders, which are at your:
"C:\Users\{your user name here}\AppData\Local\Microsoft\FSX\"

Then put this bmp into the root folder of FSX (where fsx.exe lives), over-writing Microsoft's wrong one. Those two components will correct a number of issues which you may be having at the moment, including the blue squares. (Rain fix and darker water fix are already included in it).

Regarding the flashing on Anacortes's runway - if it is, indeed flashing - I have noticed that only occurring on KORS's runway, and only from around 2000 feet. I have considerable time in this area, and have yet to come across any significant issue - other than Anacortes being heavy on frame rate, so I will need some flight time to verify your other runway/airfield problems. I think that darker surface color of the aircraft parking area reflects a more recent asphalt repair, and so it appears darker. Don't forget, too, one might expect that some variation in texture or color may well exist when comparing DX9 to DX10, DX10 being a newer and different technology.

With regard to the horizon - your pics look exactly as the horizon appears in real life - the line between the land and the sky fade into each other with distance: if you set your ground and air visibility distance to maximum, you'll get a harsh "line" where the sky meets the ground. Rex lightens and creates a "haze", and blends the sky color very well, as does Active Sky. On a clear day, one cannot see much more than 20 - 25 miles or so at ground level, depending upon the terrain, with not much more than 70 - 100 miles at 3 or 4 thousand feet. If you were to take, say an F15 or other aircraft with a clear teardrop canopy up to 40,000 feet, you will see the sky above your head becoming progressively darker, and stars becoming visible during the daytime, and no horizon line at all. This lightening effect with distance is caused by light reflecting off the microscopic particulate matter, dust, etc., in the atmosphere, and most noticeable at dawn and dusk, and even more so following any large volcanic activity, such as when St. Helens or Iceland's Eyjafajllajokull erupted, causing red and purple dawns and dusks world-wide.

Of course - I might also be interpreting your screenshots totally wrongly........

Hope this helps,

All the Best, and "Welcome" to Avsim, and the DX10 Club"! :lol:

[rooby007 0]

Hi Paul. Thanks.

 

Unfortunately, I don't think you put the links in for the shader folders so I can't access them.

 

Regarding the horizon, it's not hazy horizon that's the issue - if you look carefully at the bottom left area of the Duke picture, you can see some artifacts perpendicular to the horizon. In flight this looks quite noticeable.

 

And as for the runways, it's definitely something underneath the runway surface that's flashing through depending on the angle you view it from. I'm starting to wonder if it's an AA issue?

[odourboy 1,290]

I see that banding (pic 3 & 4) also, though mine is more subtle than yours seems to be - I barely notice it. Perhaps our visibility/season settings are different.

[Paul J 349]

Hi Paul. Thanks.

 

Unfortunately, I don't think you put the links in for the shader folders so I can't access them.

 

 

Duh!!  I do this  at least once a week. Old and stupid.

 

Here it is, Roob.

 

Yup - now I can see the banding in pics 3 and 4. Does it do this when flying with the default textures? Have you tried that?

 

Does the flashing occur with all runways, or is it just Anacortes?

[rooby007 0]

Flashing seems to be with all ORBX runways. I'm wondering if it's an AntiAliasing issue? If I fly around the airfield at ~500-1000ft in a tight turn, the airfield textures look ok from some angles and then all of a sudden, the runway, apron and windsock circle (I'm test flying at Anacortes) all start flashing with jagged white polygons like in my picture.

Right now I'm testing, so I have everything dialled down in terms of autogen, traffic, peopleflow etc. So I'm sure it's not system resources that are the issue. All essential settings from the airport installation guide are set appropriately.

[Paul J 349]

Sounds like DX10 is not being used. Would you attach your fsx.cfg here? You will need to rename it as Rooby_fsx.txt sio that the forum will allow it. Use the "More Reply Options" in the bottom-right corner and follow the instructions..... and then take a screenshot of your Nvidia Inspector settings, - also we could get a better "feel" for you setup if you would add your pc hardware to the profile, where it will then appear under your avatar.

 

Thanks, (and Welcome to Avsim and the DX10 "club"!)

[rooby007 0]

Hi Paul,

 

Here you go... plus PC specs added to my signature.

 

 

[Paul J 349]

Well, try this Inspector to start with, Rooby. The cfg is below with a couple of changes. I think it might have been Steve, but I'm not sure... someone suggested that the fsx.cfg additional two lines (the MultiSampe lines in [Graphics}, should be the same as the Inspector lines, and this particular Inspector also has the LOD Bias changed. Anyway this is the one I've used - with success, for a couple of weeks now. 

 

Going back to those vertical bands.. 

 

 

I can see the banding in pics 3 and 4. Does it do this when flying with the default textures? Have you tried that? 

..and ...Does the flashing occur with all runways, or is it just Anacortes?

 

One thing I noticed - you've got that beautiful GTX 580, but you're throttling it with a Reject threshold and a larger PoolSize???  With a low-speed processor, this ought to be BufferPools = 0, as much of it's time it will be waiting for data..

 

 

 

Keep in touch,

 

All the Best,

[HighTowers 1,434]

Dont mean to hijack the thread, but this kinda falls under dx10 graphical glitches and saves another thread opening.

 

Does anyone have VC issues with the overhead dome lights coming on?  They just flash with mine quickly and dont work in all aircraft including the NGX.  

Thanks

[Jim Young 2,356]

 

 

Does anyone have VC issues with the overhead dome lights coming on? They just flash with mine quickly and dont work in all aircraft including the NGX.

 

Hi Dave,

 

I have not seen this at all with my DX10 and NGX.  Does this happen in DX9 too?  I cannot see any possibility that this could be DX10 related. 

 

Best regards,

Jim

[Spook 96]

Should in go down this DX10 road?...whats the benifits and downfalls? Thanks

[Paul J 349]

I don't think that question can be answered in a single post, Luke. You will have to read all you can on this site, and other sites, that talk about DX10, starting with a thorough study of the DX10 "How-To" guide, pinned at the top.

 

Everyone has a slightly different experience, just as not everyone likes a Ford car. Some folks, perhaps most - are very successful, but we do have a few that have given up after "trying it" for a day or so. The one thing I will promise, is that 98% of all of the noticeable issues which did exist one year ago, do not exist today, thanks to Steve's on-going work. The FSX setup is a little different, as DX10 shifts much more of the graphics load over to the GPU, and manages memory quite differently.

 

I hope this helps!

[HighTowers 1,434]

Hi Dave,

 

I have not seen this at all with my DX10 and NGX.  Does this happen in DX9 too?  I cannot see any possibility that this could be DX10 related. 

 

Best regards,

Jim

Yes it does work in DX9. So thats my conclusion it was a DX10 issue. Unless of course its pilot error. lol

[Jim Young 2,356]

Yes it does work in DX9. So thats my conclusion it was a DX10 issue. Unless of course its pilot error. lol

LOL!  I don't see anything in DX10 that could cause this problem but anything is possible when we discussing computers, FSX, and video cards.  Still I do not have this problem but then I never turn on the dome lights as I fly only during daylight.

 

Best regards,

Jim