Another experiment, cloud tweaking.

[Alec 370]

He should show LR how to do it, and they include it in the next update! Wow...  I want to see the face of those first installing X-Plane, after years of same look FSX, and looking at those skies.

[strider1 575]

Hi look amazing can you show us how to do that please ? :rolleyes:

+ 1

I did some further experiments with the cloud and their colors. In the following screenshots, the clouds have been subjected to the following tweaks:

 

1) increased cloud textures resolution;

 

2) increased cloud puffs plot radius: this produces denser clouds even at low cloud rendering settings; also, clouds are softer and a performance is a bit better;

 

3) closest circle of cloud puffs not drawn: this increases a bit performance and eliminates the ugly visual boundary between the two closest cloud puffs circles (a sort of a "cloud rings" effect, visible with default clouds in overcast conditions)

 

4) modified cloud colors: more vivid sunset glow and post-twilight blue hue; just quick-and-dirty modifications

 

All of this are very preliminary experiments, made in a few hours and without even modifying default textures, but I think they demonstrate the potential of the default X-Plane cloud engine. If Laminar fixes a couple of limitations (performance, clouds not moving with wind, and a couple others), IMO this engine can provide visual stunning effects in the hand of the right artist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NICE !

 

How do you edit the clouds ?

[Murmur 3,941]

Hi look amazing can you show us how to do that please ? :rolleyes:

 

.) Download and extract this archive: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5fyJwRhjar5RkNiSzRla2dqN3c/edit?usp=sharing

 

.) Replace the content of "X-Plane 10\Resources\bitmaps\world\clouds" with the content of the "clouds" folder you downloaded; (backup original folder);

 

.) Inside "X-Plane 10\Resources\bitmaps\skycolors", replace the original "sky_colors_mount.png" file with the one you downloaded; (backup original file);

 

.) Running X-Plane, go to the "Settings"->"Rendering Options" and set the "CLOUD DETAIL" slider to minimum (10%);

 

Modify the following datarefs (using the usual DataRefEditor or a Lua script, etc.):

 

.) "clouds/first_res_3d" from "-1.0" to "3.0";

.) "clouds/cloud_shadow_lighten_ratio" from "0.5" to "0.9" (this makes cloud shadows visible);

.) "clouds/limit_far" from "1.0" to "0.1" or "0.2" (this improves the appearence of cloud shadows and avoids their shimmering);

.) "clouds/plot_radius" from "1.0" to "1.8" (experiment with this value until you find the puff density you prefer);

 

.) [OPTIONAL] Go to the menu "Special"->"Show Sky Colors" and click on the "mount" button;

 

.) Set the weather in the "set random and only semi-controlled weather patterns"; experiment with the following three settings, or experiment with your own settings:

 

 

I just did quick experiments and I'm not an artist, so the results are very far from perfect, for example you'll get an unrealistic vivid blue haze some minutes after sunset, etc. You're free to experiment and improve the results! The cloud colors can be changed by modifying the following part of the skycolor textures:

 

[FloB 34]

Can someone explain the meaning of those 2 squares in detail? I wasn't able to figure out how they are related to the sim/cloud colors. Results were somewhat surprising, partly the ground at night, partly having no effect at all.

 

Cheers

Flo

[Murmur 3,941]

I'm not 100% sure, but I think that, in each of the square, the horizontal axis relates to the time of day (more precisely, the sun angle over horizon), and the vertical axis relates to the cloud height. Probably there are two squares because X-Plane cloud engine uses two different colour tones to depict variation in cloud colors.

[SolRayz 392]

WOW!!! As an FSX/P3D user....wow!!! :Applause:

[tomcat357 2]

Just a curious question, has any of you guys downloaded Carolina Blue Skys???

[Humpty 751]

I have 

 

Just a curious question, has any of you guys downloaded Carolina Blue Skys???

 

 

I have the Carolina but have not tried it as yet.

[tomcat357 2]

Carolina Blue Skys are basiclly what you guys are talking about in this thread. Mostly default clouds with some slight detailing with some other existing cloud resources  and slightly tinted to give a more real color. Then colored in the skycolors file as Murmur as shown. Every weather condition has it's own base coloring then the weather engine mixes them per real weather condition. It is frame rate friendly, and requires the default shader file. Using any hacked shader file will kill the results and the AWG file in the free tools will kill your frame rates as well. One more note, the Carolina Blue Skys are toned down from the bright vidid colors that Murmur has shown to more represent what I have recorded over the years but that is easily edited. I think that the weather engine that we have been kicking around for the last 2 years is more capable than we think. Have fun

[Humpty 751]

@tomcat , 

 

 You mean it's better than Clouds HD v2 and Realistic Skycolors ? Should I be using them ?

[sascha 314]

The results of your tweaking are truly spectacular!

 

Sascha

[tomcat357 2]

@tomcat , 

 

 You mean it's better than Clouds HD v2 and Realistic Skycolors ? Should I be using them ?

I can't tell anybody what to use, but the Realistic Skycolors by Abdullah Almuntassir is in the package and probably some HD 2 clouds for detail. It's the color of the clouds that the package is focused on. And the clouds blend together much better also. But YOU MOST USE THE DEFAULT shader, there is no need to use a hacked shader file. Now I've got a cloud bank I most go fly through so Have Fun..and enjoy.

 

TomCat357

[AUA425 130]

 

 

.) "clouds/limit_far" from "1.0" to "0.1" or "0.2" (this improves the appearence of cloud shadows and avoids their shimmering);

 

hello murmur!

 

Very nice, go go go, will try out today !!

 

Thank you!

 

Just one thing

->

 

.) "clouds/limit_far" from "1.0" to "0.1" or "0.2" (this improves the appearence of cloud shadows and avoids their shimmering);

 

I would use values about 0.4 or 0.5 because if you use values about 0.1 or 0.2 you will see cloud-shadows only arround the aircraft (some cloud-shadows in the distance will not bee shown, it´s ok if you prefer this, this value reduced cloud flicker , indeed, but also the range of the cloud shadows

 

greetings ! Arnie

[Humpty 751]

@Tomcat  

 

Carolina 

 

 

[tomcat357 2]

Purrtty