Hi

 

Rex soft clouds seems to be slaughtering my fps

 

Here at Glasgow I was getting 19 fps because of the clouds 

 

Is there anything I can do to make it better for my fps ?

 

Thanks 

 

http://i.imgur.com/V7MFgCG.jpg

Haven't noticed any change in FPS from default to soft clouds. How many layers do you have? 

Set to 5 as default 

 

12 FPS here http://i.imgur.com/h43H96o.jpg

Do you have HDR lighting on? That will kill your FPS in clouds. I use soft clouds only on the lower layer at the 512k resolution and NO HDR lighting!

Yep HDR lighting is on in sim and enabled in rex soft clouds

1 - DO NOT USE HD textures.  512 textures is more than enough.  These are soft clouds.  You don't want them looking like they were cut out of a photo and pasted into your sim.  They look more natural at 512.

 

2 - HDR lighting does not affect the performance so much as SGSS.   This is a known issue in P3D involving clouds.   Sparse Grid Super Sampling, even at a mild 2x setting can and will erode your FPS in bad weather conditions.   I live without any SGSS.  There are other ways to get around it like Reshade/SweetFX.    I never had FPS issues with or without HDR on but I had major issues with SGSS.   As a note, I current fly with HDR OFF.

 

3 - You don't need 5 layers of clouds.  Set it to 4 layers.   I assume you are using Active Sky NEXT since you are mentioning cloud layers.    Rarely are there more than 4 layers of clouds in real world weather.   The extra layer is just eating up resources, both frames and VAS and the impact on visual performance is minor.

 

4 - Is your cloud draw distance beyond 90 miles?    Why?   The human eye can't see further than that in real life, even at 40000 feet because of atmospheric distortion and hazing.  Don't make the simulator try to draw past that in my opinion.  You are causing unnecessary drains on your VAS and FPS.    I have my Cloud Draw distance set to 83 miles and my Visual Max distance set to 80.   This creates a realistic haze out at the horizon and you never see the clouds popping in because they are being formed in the 3 mile buffer zone between your cloud draw distance and your visual distance.

 

 

These are suggestions but they work on 'MY SYSTEM'.    I am able to fly with MAX Detailed clouds in thunderstorms with rain and lighting and see very little if any FPS drop and my VAS does not suffer from the weather engine.   Give it a shot if you are so inclined.   Good flying to you!

 

While there isn't a whole lot of weather in the below screen shot it is enough to show you the visual I am talking about.  This to me, looks realistic for an early morning warm humid summer takeoff.

 

1 - DO NOT USE HD textures.  512 textures is more than enough.  These are soft clouds.  You don't want them looking like they were cut out of a photo and pasted into your sim.  They look more natural at 512.

 

Excellent shot Brian - luv it    ----------  3 Cloud layers is plenty

I have noted a difference in FPS when HDR is on or off. I do not use ASN, just FSGlobal Weather. As for SGSS, I implement it in NVI because it's the only way to get 3rd party addons to look sharp in P3D. The default stuff looks fine with NVI on or off. I am hoping that with the arrival of my new 980ti card, I will be able to increase my resolution slightly and eventually eliminate NVI...we'll see.

That is what I use, 3 layers and it looks great. 

1 - DO NOT USE HD textures.  512 textures is more than enough.  These are soft clouds.  You don't want them looking like they were cut out of a photo and pasted into your sim.  They look more natural at 512.

 

2 - HDR lighting does not affect the performance so much as SGSS.   This is a known issue in P3D involving clouds.   Sparse Grid Super Sampling, even at a mild 2x setting can and will erode your FPS in bad weather conditions.   I live without any SGSS.  There are other ways to get around it like Reshade/SweetFX.    I never had FPS issues with or without HDR on but I had major issues with SGSS.   As a note, I current fly with HDR OFF.

 

3 - You don't need 5 layers of clouds.  Set it to 4 layers.   I assume you are using Active Sky NEXT since you are mentioning cloud layers.    Rarely are there more than 4 layers of clouds in real world weather.   The extra layer is just eating up resources, both frames and VAS and the impact on visual performance is minor.

 

4 - Is your cloud draw distance beyond 90 miles?    Why?   The human eye can't see further than that in real life, even at 40000 feet because of atmospheric distortion and hazing.  Don't make the simulator try to draw past that in my opinion.  You are causing unnecessary drains on your VAS and FPS.    I have my Cloud Draw distance set to 83 miles and my Visual Max distance set to 80.   This creates a realistic haze out at the horizon and you never see the clouds popping in because they are being formed in the 3 mile buffer zone between your cloud draw distance and your visual distance.

 

 

These are suggestions but they work on 'MY SYSTEM'.    I am able to fly with MAX Detailed clouds in thunderstorms with rain and lighting and see very little if any FPS drop and my VAS does not suffer from the weather engine.   Give it a shot if you are so inclined.   Good flying to you!

 

While there isn't a whole lot of weather in the below screen shot it is enough to show you the visual I am talking about.  This to me, looks realistic for an early morning warm humid summer takeoff.

 

 

 

 

Where is this visual max setting, I can't find it?  

In Settings in Active Sky NEXT under Visibility Options

 

Set Minimum Surface Vis to 0

Set max Surface vis to 50 (or whatever YOU think looks right.  50 for me.)

Set Max upper Vis to 80 (or 3 miles shorter than your maximum cloud draw distance.  For me my Max cloud draw is 83 so my vis is 80)

 

 

 

That is what I use, 3 layers and it looks great. 

 

 

 

Where is this visual max setting, I can't find it?  

Excellent shot Brian - luv it    ----------  3 Cloud layers is plenty

 

3 layers works for everything BUT I find 4 is good during thunderstorms to build those thunder heads up more but you are right.   LESS is MORE in FSX and P3D.    And thanks!   That's my newest livery I just completed painting.  Saw this plane while spotting at DFW International and noticed no one had done N607Nk in the new Banana Boat scheme.  This use to be a Skittles Spirit plane but it just got repainted.

In Settings in Active Sky NEXT under Visibility Options

 

Set Minimum Surface Vis to 0

Set max Surface vis to 50 (or whatever YOU think looks right.  50 for me.)

Set Max upper Vis to 80 (or 3 miles shorter than your maximum cloud draw distance.  For me my Max cloud draw is 83 so my vis is 80)

 

Thanks for the info as I just did a new install of P3D on win 10 so far so good and I was just getting to ASN settings - perfect timing bro - nice paint

Thanks, never even looked at those settings in ASN. 

@Brain

Its always nice to read an informative post and not like the huge amount of misinformation on these forums and in this post. Nice post to help the OP.

@Brain

Its always nice to read an informative post and not like the huge amount of misinformation on these forums and in this post. Nice post to help the OP.

 

AVSIM helped me get through the early years without throwing myself out the window and now that I have some experience with all the DO'S and DON'Ts and have found what works and doesn't work for me I like to share in hopes that my solution will be someone else's solution and prevent them from throwing their PC out the window or themselves in frustration.   FSX and P3D can both drive a person to drink when things are going wrong.