I've looked through the forums for any addon that might mitigate the cloud effect where the clouds "snap" to an underlying overcast layer, then snap the ovc layer off again... I assume that the XPX weather engine is seeing a metar closeby that it's responding to, the instantaneous snapping on and off is a bit annoying...

 

Thanks, Bruce.

Hi not sure if you're refering when you, in flight close approach to any given cloud and looks like (in my case) gradually forms up and vanish, but gradually not just a cloud pop up or cloud snapping on and off, if this is your case then perhaps is a cloud rendering system thing. You may try SkyMaxx Pro that uses a completely different cloud rendering system (and a faster one).

Yes, weather smoothing is on my "want" list.  It is a big problem that ActiveSky over in FSX used to try to deal with - don't know if ActiveSkyNext ever got that done or not.  A lot has to do with the settings, draw distance is a killer, and whether you're using default clouds for SkyMaxx or ??

Thanks for the replies.. I should have added that i do have SkyMaxx (v2), although haven't played with any settings yet.

 

The effect was noticable when flying here in the Denver area on Sunday, when the real weather was snowy and overcast.  Climbing form takeoff there was a broken layer beneath me that looked really nice and quite realistic-  but when I got to the altitude where the overcast floor was, there was an instantaneous change where I all of a sudden was above the overcast later-  like it was only an inch thick and I didn't actually pass through it, but magicaly came to be on top of it the moment I entered the overcast.

 

So many folks have done so much for XP that I wondered if anyone had a plug-in and/or addon that addressed this issue.

 

Thanks,  Bruce.

It may also have something to do with the way the METAR data is interpreted.  If you have a cloud "ceiling" of 5,000 ft., it doesn't always state the thickness of the cloud layer, as that has little or nothing to do with navigation once you're free of the ground view - you're on instruments.  How would SkyMaxx or X-Plane know how thick that ceiling layer is?  The only cloud setting in X-Plane is "cloud detail," so that wouldn't likely affect ceiling layer thickness.  In SkyMaxx we have "cloud detail," "cloud draw distance," "maximum cloud size," "minimum cloud size," "puff rotation speed," "cirrus resolution" and "cirrus type."  The cirrus settings would be above any ceiling layers so they have no effect, and I don't see any way to "thicken" the ceiling layer based on controls that we have.

 

So there are two problems, I think.  First how does the weather engine know how thick the cloud layer is, and second, how would X-Plane implement such information if it were available.  Interesting post - never thought much about it.

I think what you describe is a known Skymaxx issue when X-Plane tells to draw a stratus overcast layer:

 

See here:

 

http://forums.x-pilot.com/topic/7509-low-stratus-clouds-dont-work/

 

especially post #16 by sundog.

 

Flo

 

 

If you have a cloud "ceiling" of 5,000 ft., it doesn't always state the thickness of the cloud layer, as that has little or nothing to do with navigation once you're free of the ground view - you're on instruments.

 

Yes- agreed-  a METAR is a "surface observation", so the floor of an overcast layer is all that is meaningful.

 

Even if XPX / Skymaxx had a minimum of 1,000 ft thickness,  that might be an idea at some future time...

 

Thanks,  Bruce.