what makes one cloud set

 

that different from

 

What's with the "HD"....HDR??....

 

Yeah yeah I know that HDR is high dynamic range I've been using it photographically for years but is it just eye candy?...is it worth the performance penalty... Or is it just a matter of choice?

 

Which… I seem to be answering my entire message here… after the performance requirements are met, Is it all just a matter of choice?

 

What are the comparable benefits of the various weather engines?... Am I just pissing in the ...clouds, with OpusFSX because it doesn't offered 10 layers?

 

 

I mainly (or only) use the HDE v2 clouds because they look a lot better than default and because they are free. It they didn't exist, I probably would have bought REX4 for my clouds because the default stuff isn't that good imho. (Some people like the default clouds though...)

 

As far as performance goes: all (or most) available add-on clouds offer the option to use them in low, medium or high res and it's up to the user if the higher res clouds are worth the (possible) performance penalty. Imho (and a lot of others think the same) very high res clouds look unrealistic so I settled for 512 res HDE v2 clouds which simply look more real, with the added benefit of having no performance penalty.

 

Whenever HD is mentioned in this topic, it stands for High Definition, simply meaning high res cloud textures. HDR is an effect some love (I LOVE IT!) and some hate. I like how it gives extra contrast, changes of light (depending on where you look) and bloom. I won't fly without it anymore!!! With FSX similar effects could be obtained with the ENB plugin but P3D's HDR is rather perfect imho (as long as you use the transition tweak that has been posted on this forum elsewhere) so no more need for external plugins for this.

 

Concerning the weather engines: OpusFSX is a fine weather engine, one of the most favorite ones and your fine with it as long as you are happy with it. I like ASN more but that mainly has to do with various options is has which OpusFSX doesn't have. You're not pissing anything if you stick with OpusFSX: a lot of simmer use it and are happy with it.

 

So in the end... yes, it's all just a matter of choice! ^_^ So feel free to give HDR in P3D a try, to test for instance the HDE v2 clouds and skies and you could even download the ASN demo which gives you unrestricted access for a week: all this is for free so why not see for yourself what you like or not!

I've got a batch file that'll do that JP :smile:

That's super nice of you, it works perfectly, thanks again Jim.

 

- JP

Michael,

 

I don't normally monitory memory usage since I use fairly conservative settings in P3D, I can check if you'd like.  I'm using 1024 TML as well as 512 DXT5 for clouds. 

 

In the screen I attached, I was using ASN to test/depict real world wx with overcast and rainy conditions below.  Prior to Jim's input, I had to use volumetric fog with REX Direct textures in order to achieve the same effects, that caused stutters which I can't tolerate.  Now with Jim's advice I have nearly the same effect w/o having to use volumetric fog and have clouds set at maximum and no stutters and very fluid flight.

 

Rex Direct is great for clouds/water/airport textures, I just can't find sky textures particularly during the day that I find realistic, this suggestion has changed things for me.  I think J van E depicted it nicely in his previous post.

 

Here's REX sky/clouds

 

Here's HDE V2 Sky/clouds

 

HDE V2 sky again, I tried to capture the haze in the mountains ahead, didn't quite show up here.

 

 

I'm hooked, I spent way to many hours flying into the night and am back at it again today. 

 

 

Thanks , They do look great . TML 1024 is normal not considered as "HD" so i assume that the textures were 2048 or 4096 hence a higher TML setting, 

 

but thanks for pictures as well

 

Michael

Default skies in P3D or FSX are definitely out of the question. That purple colour at dawn and dusk is just not realistic. I use REX Essential Plus in P3D, and I am very pleased with the colour of the dawn/dusk sky, and also the cloud textures.

I mainly (or only) use the HDE v2 clouds because they look a lot better than default and because they are free. ...why not see for yourself what you like or not!

Can I give you a hug?

The cirrus was a mixed bag imho because there was one particular cirrus cloud that showed up all over the sky and was very recognizable and hence repetitive and it also looked very sharp as if it had bad AA, even in the far away distance. Didn't like that at all. But yes, it's a matter of preference.

As I posted before I didn't really like the HDE Cirrus but maybe resizing them helps.

 

I remember something about the haze layer with one of these cirrus textures, as I recall it would sort of follow you around and I think that's why AS Evo had an option to disable the haze layer. That may be the cloud you're talking about. I'm not positive which texture it was (Jim Skorna would know for sure, I think it was cirrus_overcast03.bmp) but I remember replacing it with one from Gerrit Kranenbarg's BlueSphere packages (fs9envis.zip?) to cure that problem. That was in FS9, I haven't noticed the "following" problem in FSX or P3D2 though.

Can I give you a hug?

 

If you really want to, you may, but not before all that smoke has left your nose... ^_^

 

 

 

I remember something about the haze layer with one of these cirrus textures, as I recall it would sort of follow you around

 

Hm, it shouldn't be too hard to figure out which texture is causing 'problems' (by only replacing half of the cirrus textures and see if it's still there or not and so on). And then I could maybe replace that one with a default one. Then again, I don't have too many problems with default cirrus: it's not as bad as default cumulus!

Some of the resized HDE v2 cirrus do look quite pixelated, the original size ones are gorgeous in my opinion, and indeed do not cause any noticeable performance hit; but then again like Jeroen says, the stock cirrus aren't too bad either. I think I'm going to keep the unsized ones for a bit, if I become annoyed with them it's back to stock.

 

The HDE sky color is a tiny (really tiny) bit more azure/cyan than I'd prefer, but I do like everything else about it; both the brights and the darks are really good.

 

I also like the 512 cumulus, it makes a nice fluffy!

If you are using ASN, make sure "Enhance overcast conditions" is turned off. I went from 8 FPS to 30 FPS disabling it (I may have turned it on because of the cloud performance fix).

My V2 test of Prepar3d v2.3 fixes,

cloud X,Y reduction as specified by Lockheed Martin,

P3d V2.2 output of all my 2004/FsX scenery, now converted over to P3D thanks to Arno's Modelconverterx, and;

Pablo Diaz's Original HDE 24 bit Clouds v2.0. (Pablo Diaz- E-Mail: [email protected])
converted to 32-bit converted by Danny Glover - [email protected].

A real disappointment here; while the clouds are really great, and appreciated, there are black flashes

@ 0:35,2:59,3:20,3:38,3:40,4:10,5:42,5:52,5:59,6:58....etc,etc.

on the ground which totally destroys the immersivity.

 

 I'm pretty sure that those are cloud shadows....really Hard edged....cloud shadows...when cloud shadows should soft edged and be diffused on the ground...test that by playing shadow puppet with a light bulb and your wall.

 

Has anybody else seen this?

 

Is it  the HDE CLOUDS, P3dv2.3? or the fact that the cloud shadows are showing up on photoreal scenery?

....What can we do about that?


Any ideas?

Chas

link http://youtu.be/kOv7SqDbTaU

Chas, please don't put email addys in forum posts.

 

No idea about the shadow effects, but I love the flying! :smile:

 

- JP

Chas, please don't put email addys in forum posts.

 

No idea about the shadow effects, but I love the flying! :smile:

 

- JP

Gotcha... it won't let me edit... Whiskey Tango FoxTrot??

 

Regards,

 

Chas

If you really want to, you may, but not before all that smoke has left your nose... ^_^

 

Lafffffffffffffinnnnnnnnnnnnn

You can soften the cloud shadows somewhat by changing:

 

[GRAPHICS]
CLOUD_SHADOW_TEXTURE_SIZE=512

 

to:

[GRAPHICS]
CLOUD_SHADOW_TEXTURE_SIZE=256

 

in the Prepar3D.cfg. Pick up a frame or two in the process :smile:

My V2 test of Prepar3d v2.3 fixes,

cloud X,Y reduction as specified by Lockheed Martin,

P3d V2.2 output of all my 2004/FsX scenery, now converted over to P3D thanks to Arno's Modelconverterx, and;

Pablo Diaz's Original HDE 24 bit Clouds v2.0. (Pablo Diaz- E-Mail:with-held)

converted to 32-bit converted by Danny Glover - E-Mail:with-held.

A real disappointment here; while the clouds are really great, and appreciated, there are black flashes

all over the place!!.. much more apparent here in version three of the video then in version two which I posted earlier today and have since deleted... because this is totally re-flown, & re-edited with music..

 

AVSIM!   why have you changed the edit rights to my posts, and why have you gotten rid of the equipment information under each users profile? That is A totally counter-productive move!

on the ground which totally destroys the immersivity.

 

 I'm pretty sure that those are cloud shadows....really Hard edged....cloud shadows...when cloud shadows should soft edged and be diffused on the ground...test that by playing shadow puppet with a light bulb and your wall.

 

Has anybody else seen this?

 

Is it  the HDE CLOUDS, P3dv2.3? or the fact that the cloud shadows are showing up on photoreal scenery?

 

....What can we do about that?

 

 

Any ideas?

 

Chas

link http://youtu.be/wfMW7bj2qZ0

You can soften the cloud shadows somewhat by changing:

 

[GRAPHICS]

CLOUD_SHADOW_TEXTURE_SIZE=512

 

to:

[GRAPHICS]

CLOUD_SHADOW_TEXTURE_SIZE=256

 

in the Prepar3D.cfg. Pick up a frame or two in the process :smile:

James,

 

Thanks!...I shall certainly give it a try ...I don't see the texture size is the problem with the video you can see flashes of black everywhere.

 

Regards,

 

Chas