PREVIEW - how about an UHD Mesh Scenery?

[alpilotx 505]

I couldn't sit idle in the last days, and started some very extreme experiments pushing the scenery generator even further outside of its comfort zone. I massively increased the mesh resolution (almost 3x of HD Mesh Scenery v3) and added in some nice 30m DEM data (everything else - on the data side - is identical to HD Mesh Scenery v3).

 

Well, the results have surprised even me ... the Alps or the Grand Canyon changed their look in a quite obvious (and positive) way, making them look even more realistic (and big - yes, the "feeling" of dimensions has improved very nicely!).

 

At the moment I am tinkering with the results, and am also waiting for some DEM data improvements (the good guy behind Viewfinderpanoramas.org hinted to me, that he wanted to increase the 30m Alps data very soon - and of course, I will wait for that). But then, I am definitely considering to share a few, smaller UHD regions with you (don't even bother to start asking for "regions" ... I will do the ones, I find the best to do at the moment). Like the - entire - Alps, the Canyon Land in the USA, and Maybe Colorado and the Yosemite region ...

 

BUT, there is one drawback. of course, this absolutely insane (consider it experimental) mesh resolution needs some beefy hardware to run (users who have FPS concerns with HD Mesh Sceney v3 should not even think about it). On my machine, it worked quite well (yes, definitely usable FPS) ... BUT it will definitely need a minimum of 16 GB RAM (24 or 32 might be much safer).

 

Here are a bunch of comparison screenshots (labeled UHD and HD ... so you can browse trough them and see the differences):

• https://picasaweb.google.com/101666907909842492197/PREVIEWUHDMeshSceneryV1

And some quick examples:

 

 

 

 

 

 

PS: This is also showing you, what X-Plane could one day achieve with hardware tessellation (its on the roadmap of Laminar ... but without a due date) with less heavy DSFs.

Edited February 1, 2015 by tonywob
Updated Link to screenshots

[Old_As_Dirt 160]

Wow Andras.  You have really found the key to unlock what can be done... as you always have.  Thank you for your efforts and devotion to this platform.

 

John

[Comanche 417]

Wow. Looks amazing!  It would be nice to see this kind of mesh resolution someday, but Im also very happy and greatfull to what we have with V3.

 

Rob

[CarlosF 1,234]

Wow Andras, as always, amazing work!!!

 

It is nice to know there are geniuses out there squeezing every bit of potential out of XP.

 

Just made a contribution to keep you motivated... :Applause: ...thanks for the hard work.

[brucek 38]

Awesome Andras, thanks for all you do for us and XP in general.

 

Bruce.

[CaptCWGAllen 49]

Andras you are a genius. This is amazing stuff. Bring it on - my 64Gb RAM is sitting idle! Donation on its way.

 

Cheers

Peter

[brucek 38]

"BUT, there is one drawback. of course, this absolutely insane (consider it experimental) mesh resolution needs some beefy hardware to run (users who have FPS concerns with HD Mesh Sceney v3 should not even think about it). On my machine, it worked quite well (yes, definitely usable FPS) ... BUT it will definitely need a minimum of 16 GB RAM (24 or 32 might be much safer)."

 

Is system RAM more omportant for the UHD stuff than GPU memory and/or performance?

 

Thanks, Bruce.

[Janov 2,383]

Totally cool! I want this yesterday! :o

 

This might actually stop the "Outerra, Outerra, Outerra" cries...

 

It is obvious that Hessen should be the first area to be done, with it´s spectacular mountain ranges and lush towns in the Wetterau! :ph34r: B)

 

Keep it up and thanks again, Jan

[alpilotx 505]

Is system RAM more omportant for the UHD stuff than GPU memory and/or performance?

 

 

You need both ... but first it has to fit in main memory (RAM) before it can start to be rendered (when VRAM comes in play). And with less than 16 GB RAM (well, even 16 GB will not be enough in all situations!) you will go to "swap hell" ... where everything will slow down a lot ...

 

On VRAM size ... well, I think users with halfway modern cards in the 3 GB VRAM range should be able to fly it (in some areas even 2 GB VRAM might be enough ... but don#t bet on this). An interesting observation was, that the Grannd Canyon might be the perfect place with UHD ond less potent hardware ... there you only have the extreme mesh resolution, but not much more (not big cities, no extensive forests, barely any roads) to render. So, while flying there (Grand Canyon), even with almost everything maxed out, I could get 50 FPS with UHD on my hardware (but in the Alps - where there is much more other "clutter", the FPS usually go much lower!).

It is obvious that Hessen should be the first area to be done, with it´s spectacular mountain ranges and lush towns in the Wetterau! :ph34r: B)

Yes, Hessen for sure B)  ... LOL ... (then I would rather do my home region, Fränkische Schweiz with some nice little valleys/cliffs first )

But again: no wishing guys (and part of the reason is "high quality data availability") !

[jcjimmy 150]

Ausgezeichnet! Excellent!

 

Thanks for all of your hard work and demonstrating the scenery possibilities within X-Plane. The Grand Canyon and Alps look very realistic. The idea of concentrating the UHD in smaller, distinctive areas sounds good to me. I was planning to build a new computer anyway.

[torfih 49]

Very nice! Might I add that Iceland is also a great place for such a mesh, no big cities only a few small towns ... and the Alps of course!

[alpilotx 505]

Very nice! Might I add that Iceland is also a great place for such a mesh, no big cities only a few small towns ... and the Alps of course!

Read the "announcement" : it says, "Alps" (and don't worry, if there is a place on this planet which I really love, then its the "Alps" ... )

 

And no guys, this UHD is making DSF files so big that I will definitely not extend it too much without thinking at least twice ... (additionally, I do not have unlimited access to high quality 30m mesh either!)

[brucek 38]

You need both ... but first it has to fit in main memory (RAM) before it can start to be rendered (when VRAM comes in play). And with less than 16 GB RAM (well, even 16 GB will not be enough in all situations!) you will go to "swap hell" ... where everything will slow down a lot ...

 

On VRAM size ... well, I think users with halfway modern cards in the 3 GB VRAM range should be able to fly it (in some areas even 2 GB VRAM might be enough ... but don#t bet on this). An interesting observation was, that the Grannd Canyon might be the perfect place with UHD ond less potent hardware ... there you only have the extreme mesh resolution, but not much more (not big cities, no extensive forests, barely any roads) to render....

Thanks. I have the 2014 5k iMac, and while it has 32GB of RAM, 4GB of vRAM, and an i7 processor, it has the M GPU, which apears to be it's main limitation...

 

Thanks, Bruce.

[RocketRod 4]

Stunning!  Ca't wait for Colorado!  Thank You for all you do!

[DocBird 79]

Uhhh, I am so happy that Santa brought me 16 GB RAM ... B) ... and I still have two free slots left!

 

Looks great! From your screenshots one can clearly see that mountain regions gain more improvement than flat regions. So for the Alps, Rockys and the like UHD would be a big improvement! Really looking forward!