Prepar3D Tweak Assistant (PTA)

[Guest tymk]

Hi Adam,

 

I'm with you 100% on the camera vs. eye thing. The adaptation/auto-exposure BS was the single biggest issue I had with HDR.

 

I agree HDR still isn't very usable with external views for the very reasons you mention, especially the bleaching. At the same time, without HDR, I have problems getting realistic brightness when the sun is low (it essentially gets dark too soon), and panel lighting at dusk loses a lot of its appeal. Plus, HDR with the right night exposure setting makes it easier to get properly dark nights. Unfortunately, it's still a trade-off, but the improvement PTA provides is spectacular, HDR or not.

 

Your shots have the best light/shadow balance I've seen (I also strive for a realistic, non-overdramatic look), so I'd be really grateful if you could share your PTA settings. Is that PTA alone? I seem to remember you experimented with SweetFX/ReShade when you gave up trying to make HDR behave... :wink:

 

Cheers,

Tym

[Montie 124]

Adam and Vertigho mind sharing your PTA settings?

[KNOSSOS 122]

I thought RSP did quite well for "fixing" the popcorn. I wonder if there's an equivalent in PTA?

 

This tweak in PTA with shown values does exact the same thing:

 

 

 

 

 

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

 

This tweak in PTA with shown values does exact the same thing:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does this induce black clouds ? thanks 

[Adamski_NZ 976]

Tym/Montie .... rather than clutter up the thread here with copy & paste, I've put my .ini file up on DropBox:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/71722992/adamski_pta_03.zip

 

I may have made the odd [tiny] tweak since those pics were taken - but nothing too different or dramatic.

 

No other shader tweaks active - pure PTA! Yes - I did give Reshade a fair thrashing, but with no real gain at the end, I don't think.

 

One of the great things about PTA (that you don't get with Reshade) is the ability to set effects on a *per camera* basis. That means I could lighten up the VC (which can sometimes be overly dark) and not have it affect my outside views. Very clever!

 

The other nice touch is the ability easily add a bit of haze (seasonal or not). I add some, but tweak back the blue ever so slightly.

 

It's possible that all these tweaks are available via the gazillions of parameters available in Reshade, but in PTA they're packaged up in exactly the way I tend to want to change the look of the sim. P3D does a superb job in applying lighting to terrain (and autogen) but I often just want to tweak *overall* contrast or brightness. PTA allows me to do this easily. The settings I arrived at really didn't take long - and I'm enjoying a whole new sim!

 

I'm lucky to live in a country that has a beautifully varied landscape, equally varied weather (!!) and scenery stunningly recreated by ORBX. I spend a *lot* of time in outside view, just watching the world go by (and filling up my HD with pics!). I've done a tiny bit of recreational flying over NZ, and the sorts of views I'm seeing in P3D now are very close to what I remember seeing. I love it!

 

Adam.

[rsgunner 2]

Adam

 

Thank you.

 

Russ

[KNOSSOS 122]

Does this induce black clouds ? thanks 

No black clouds with PTA tweaks I hope.

[armchair_pilot 54]

 

This tweak in PTA with shown values does exact the same thing:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks. I have checked that option, so no further fiddling needed to get the same result?

[Guest tymk]

Tym/Montie .... rather than clutter up the thread here with copy & paste, I've put my .ini file up on DropBox:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/71722992/adamski_pta_03.zip

 

Thanks! That's a great preset, works beautifully without HDR.

 

No other shader tweaks active - pure PTA! Yes - I did give Reshade a fair thrashing, but with no real gain at the end, I don't think.

One of the great things about PTA (that you don't get with Reshade) is the ability to set effects on a *per camera* basis. That means I could lighten up the VC (which can sometimes be overly dark) and not have it affect my outside views. Very clever!

That's another excellent point about separate custom shaders for different cameras, I'll have to experiment with that.

 

Thanks again,

Tym

[GSalden 4,723]

For everyone with black clouds : uninstall client.msi and reinstal client.msi from P3D 

 

If someone has a nice Preset with HDR enabled I would like to try it...

Adams ini is using no HDR and I am in my sim.

 

I also use the HDR settiings to make the scenery darker at night , sp already dark clouds ) and I use a value of 10 for Bloom ( need to be manually set ) at night. 

 

And my last question : the more precize clouds shadows from RSP, which slider is that at what Tab ?

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

No black clouds with PTA tweaks I hope.

 

Thank you have seen no problems  :wink:

 

 

Tym/Montie .... rather than clutter up the thread here with copy & paste, I've put my .ini file up on DropBox:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/71722992/adamski_pta_03.zip

 

I may have made the odd [tiny] tweak since those pics were taken - but nothing too different or dramatic.

 

Adam.

 

 

Thanks Adam for sharing - I use yours and a blend of RSP - great job on the VC - much appreciated

For everyone with black clouds : uninstall client.msi and reinstal client.msi from P3D 

 

If someone has a nice Preset with HDR enabled I would like to try it...

Adams ini is using no HDR and I am in my sim.

 

I also use the HDR settiings to make the scenery darker at night , sp already dark clouds ) and I use a value of 10 for Bloom ( need to be manually set ) at night. 

 

Try this - I to use hdr so adjusted it use the one called Rich 

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-cAHnyMVBgfSmpjZ0RRQVJKUFk/view?usp=sharing

[GSalden 4,723]

Thanks Rich

 

The more precize clouds shadows ? ..

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

Thanks Rich

 

The more precize clouds shadows ? ..

 

Didnt check sorry - give it a go wont hurt

[KNOSSOS 122]

 

 

Thanks. I have checked that option, so no further fiddling needed to get the same result?

Yep, no additional adjustmens for "popcorn".

[Montie 124]

Thank you Adam, much appreciated!