Prepar3D Tweak Assistant (PTA)

[Cruachan 705]

Thanks Adam! Don't feel concerned about the apparent lack of response to your latest post. I'm sure loyal followers, like myself, have come to expect these superlative results and, as soon as a heads up appears, dash off to your site to download the latest Preset without any need to question why. For me your Presets (coupled with your recommended Sky textures) produce the most beautiful and natural imagery and, to date, are head and shoulders above any others I have tried. Please keep them coming!

Regards,

Mike

[GSalden 4,657]

This is with PTA 

 

[spearmint_flyer 579]

18 minutes ago, GSalden said:

This is with PTA 

 

 

Wow that's just beautiful. Perhaps you can give me some advice on getting started on a setup like this. 

[GSalden 4,657]

Look at the site of the Aviation Mega Store and you will find lots of hardware for cockpitbuilding.

Prosim --> cockpit suite

42" - 32" - 32" HD tv's with 3 seperate views

PTA from Matt Davies

ASP4 + ASCA + EnvTex

Photoscenery + AG only

And you will need a fast pc.

regards

Gerard

[Wickerman88 1]

@Adamski_NZ

Does the F1 BN-2 is working with the K90 GPS or do you use an replacement GPS like this:

http://aussiex.org/forum/index.php?/files/file/1813-flight-1-bn2-islander-replacement-gps/

I hope there will be an update for the F1 BN-2 or a new BN-2 from Carenado :)

[Adamski_NZ 952]

@Wickerman88 - yep - that's the one I use. It works well! BTW - the Islander was produced by Flight1 (not Carenado) ... and I don't think they're that keen on doing their back-catalogue. I've been waiting for 5 yrs for the ATR72 to work in FXS, let alone P3D!

Adam.

[Adamski_NZ 952]

Announcement - new preset: adam_25_04 - for PTA 2.52 (P3Dv4).

For the first time, I've included slightly different variations of the basic preset for REX4/TD, ASCA and FEX.

REX:

FEX:

ASCA:

For those interested in my PTA reincarnations, the link is: http://www.nzfsim.org/index.php?dsp=PTA

Adam.

[Adamski_NZ 952]

A few more pics:

Adam.

[Cruachan 705]

Hi Adam,

Once again you have achieved some truly remarkable results and I congratulate you as I suspect the effort and experimentation involved must have been considerable albeit, in the end, very satisfying. Those images are wonderful! I do wonder how your virtual world would look while using a VR headset. Shame I don't own one 😔

Any chance you could show us some images taken at or around sunrise and sunset? I ask simply because I've been using the recently released ENVTEX Sky textures (Random set) along with your adam_25_03 Preset and HDR settings - for PTA 2.52 (P3Dv4) and the results were good. The only change needed was to increase the brightness setting to 0.91 which was necessary to produce acceptable daytime lighting. I'm afraid I didn't feel their provided PTAbsolute Preset was to my taste.

In the long run, of course, using a random set of Sky textures is unlikely to be the best option with any particular PTA Preset as it can lead to unpredictable results, although it's certainly 'fun' seeing what transpires 😉

Edit: I have now applied your 25_04_ASCA Preset along with reinstalling your recommended REX4 TD Sky Color texture set.  Full Dynamics is selected in ASCA (I am using ASCA Clouds) and Sky Colors is unchecked to avoid any unwelcome future lighting changes. Wow! I completed 2 wonderful flights at dawn with AS for P3Dv4. I was exploring a small area in an ORBX enhanced Washington State (my current stomping ground) while trying out my newly installed Garmin 750/650 units in the RealAir Duke and Legacy a/c. The experience was quite extraordinary and sooo real! You have done it again, Adam!

Thank you!

Kind regards,

Mike 😀

[asanal 32]

Mike, Hi

How do you install Adam' s  preset.

I purchased  Matt  PTA downloaded/installed, but I don't know how to change  New Preset. 

Thanks

 

 

 

[vgbaron 3,627]

Extract the .ini file from the zip - I put mine in the PTA folder.

 

Run PTA - under PRESET tab click open and navigate to new preset just extracted. Then under Actions select apply preset (F9).

 

Vic

[Cruachan 705]

4 hours ago, asanal said:

How do you install Adam' s  preset.

I purchased  Matt  PTA downloaded/installed, but I don't know how to change  New Preset.

 

Hi Ahmet,

1. Backup the ShadersHLSL folder in P3Dv4 root directory. I am assuming you have not used PTA before and are still running with the original P3Dv4 Shaders. If not, then you will need to reinstall the P3Dv4 Client to recover the default shader files used by PTA v2.52. If you are not using the default shader files at the outset then PTA will report errors in the Log area of the PTA window.

2. Run PTA v2.52. At first run PTA should create backups automatically of the relevant files. Verify that this has happened by browsing to the PTA_for_v4\SHADERS_BACKUP folder. You will see 5 files + a PostProcess folder:

Cloud.fx,  FuncLibrary.fxh,  General.fx,  GPUTerrain.fx,  GPUTerrain.fxh

Open the PostProcess folder: FXAAResolve.hlsl, HDR.hlsl

3. Check the Log area at the bottom of the PTA Window. It should be reporting: Shaders integrity OK

4. As a further check ( I always do this routinely prior to changing Presets), click on Actions - Restore original P3D shaders. Again, if no errors are reported you are good to go and from now on you will always be able to restore the original shaders should the need arise.

5. Click on Preset - Open and browse to select one of Adam's latest Presets: adam_pta25_04_FEX.ini, adam_pta25_04_REX.ini or adam_pta25_04_ASCA.ini (**Your choice will depend on your preferred Sky textures. Adam's Presets are optimized according to which Sky Color set is in use. This is important to ensure the various elements in the displayed scene are lit as he intended. I am using adam_pta25_04_ASCA.ini along with the REX4 TD Sky Colors combination, as recommended by Adam. Sky Colors is unchecked in ASCA to avoid any unwelcome Dynamic lighting changes by ASCA. However, ASCA should still be configured to run in either Full Dynamics or Global Automatic mode.

**NOTE: If you are using other Sky textures or the P3Dv4 defaults then the results will likely be different. However, it's worth experimenting as you may like what you see. For example, I have tried the ENVTEX 'Sky' textures without ASCA integration and the results are still pretty good. However, the ENVTEX team have provided their own PTA Preset which have been optimized for their own Sky colors. Active Sky for P3Dv4 + ASCA are not needed but their use is highly recommended.

6. Click on Actions - Apply preset. The Log will display all the actions executed and if no errors are reported then you are ready to start P3D. Close PTA.

7. Start P3D v4 and load the default scenario. At first you will be faced with a blank black window. Don't panic! The shader cache will have been cleared automatically by PTA so it will take a few seconds for the various scenery elements to appear as the shader cache is rebuilt. This will depend on the speed of your hardware - on my system the first elements start to appear after 5-6 seconds. Be patient and wait for the process to complete. Also, you will note that it takes a few moments for each aircraft to appear when you change vehicles. Thereafter there will be no delays as this is a one time process until, that is, you go through the process again when you try another PTA Preset.

Enjoy!

Regards,

Mike

Edit: Forgot to mention the fact that HDR must be enabled in P3D. Adam's Presets make the necessary changes automatically. That may be different with other Presets - you might have to change the Brightness/Bloom/Saturation settings manually according to the Preset Provider's recommendations.

 

[asanal 32]

Mike,

Thank you writing the instruction. I will start to work on it.

It will not be easy for me. It will take time.

[asanal 32]

MIke,

Finally I succeeded. Thanks to you.

[Adamski_NZ 952]

Well done, asanal!

Thanks, Mike, for such a wonderfully detailed set of instructions - it should be made into a "sticky"! I'd like to link to it in my PTA page, if that's OK with you <?>

Sky textures have a *massive* impact on the colouration of the whole of the P3D scene, so I'm glad Mike pointed out you need to be careful how the various weather/texture programs interact with each other. Some additional experimentation and adjustments may be necessary - depending on the skies in use.

Adam.