Atmospheric colors

[jtwhite 36]

I've returned to flightsimming after a long absence, using both X-Plane 11 and Prepar3d v4.I switch from one to other depending on my mood; aircraft choice; whether I'm flying day or or night; and if I'm crossing familiar terrain.

The major difference between the two is the "atmospheric" feel of X-Plane vs. P3d. XP colors seem more muted and with a haze that give it a very realistic feel. P3D always seems to me to be rather garish, looking more cartoonish than real.

Is there a tool, a tweak an add-on that will bring P3D more in line with the look I've come to love in X-Plane?

 

Thanks in advance

JohnW, Indiana

[b757 43]

I would suggest checking out PTA or wait until Envshade is released. PTA allows you to make serious modifications to the way your sim looks and lots of uploaded their .ini files so you don't even have to do much of the work. Check out this site for additional tweaks: http://1coder.ru/SKY/downloads.html

[n99wb 10]

37 minutes ago, jtwhite said:

I've returned to flightsimming after a long absence, using both X-Plane 11 and Prepar3d v4.I switch from one to other depending on my mood; aircraft choice; whether I'm flying day or or night; and if I'm crossing familiar terrain.

The major difference between the two is the "atmospheric" feel of X-Plane vs. P3d. XP colors seem more muted and with a haze that give it a very realistic feel. P3D always seems to me to be rather garish, looking more cartoonish than real.

Is there a tool, a tweak an add-on that will bring P3D more in line with the look I've come to love in X-Plane?

 

Thanks in advance

JohnW, Indiana

What have you tried? I mean. . . It's pretty easy to dirty up 4.1.

Just the particulars, what have you tried?

[hs118 707]

3 hours ago, jtwhite said:

Is there a tool, a tweak an add-on that will bring P3D more in line with the look I've come to love in X-Plane?

Hard to beat X-Plane because the atmospheric rendering is so good...for a single tool, PTA as @b757 mentioned is the "go-to" for P3D.

I have other add-ons such as ENVTEX but still use PTA for my shaders. There are lots of folks who make their "presets" (as the PTA settings are called) available for download. PTA has example screenshot built into the interface if you feel like adjusting things.

[gboz 157]

9 hours ago, jtwhite said:

XP colors seem more muted and with a haze that give it a very realistic feel.

Funny, it's just those muted colors and constant weird blue/green haze that stops me from trying xPlane.
Just don't see those colors around here.

What weather engine are you using with P3D? Maybe you could dial down the maximum visibility. With HDR on you could also try lowering the saturation slider.

gb.

[pmb 5,137]

1 hour ago, gboz said:

Funny, it's just those muted colors and constant weird blue/green haze that stops me from trying xPlane.
Just don't see those colors around here.

I was afraid of being killed for saying this thus I kept silent. I own X-Plane 11 but don't use it much, mostly because I dislike the grey-blue-hazy look.

You can easily modify the atmosphere in Prepar3d adding Rayleigh scattering and lowering visibility using, e.g., PTA. It's much harder (albeit not quite impossible) to modify X-Plane 11 to give it the look of a bright sunny summer day, notably after a cold-front passing.

Kind regards, Michael

[Cruachan 705]

2 hours ago, pmb said:

I was afraid of being killed for saying this thus I kept silent. I own X-Plane 11 but don't use it much, mostly because I dislike the grey-blue-hazy look.

You can easily modify the atmosphere in Prepar3d adding Rayleigh scattering and lowering visibility using, e.g., PTA. It's much harder (albeit not quite impossible) to modify X-Plane 11 to give it the look of a bright sunny summer day, notably after a cold-front passing.

Kind regards, Michael

+1

I agree. Much as I like X-Plane, I too find my visits to the sim grow less frequent as Prepar3D continues to mature. Mind you, much of the credit has to be attributed to all the great Addons that allow us to modify its appearance while providing huge flexibility of control. X-Plane users have access to a variety of plugins which do improve matters substantially. When we compare Vanilla Prepar3D versus X-Plane out-of-the-box I think we know which sim wins the day although, again, this may just be a matter of taste.

Another significant factor, for those of us who are not real world pilots and may travel abroad infrequently, is where we live, the degree of atmospheric pollution and the familiarity with our general surroundings. X-Plane presents me with imagery which, while very appealing, looks nothing like what I experience here in Scotland, UK. Of course, the same can be said of Prepar3D, but here I have all the appropriate tools to achieve the necessary adjustments.

Regards,

Mike

 

[hs118 707]

46 minutes ago, Cruachan said:

Another significant factor, for those of us who are not real world pilots and may travel abroad infrequently, is where we live, the degree of atmospheric pollution and the familiarity with our general surroundings. 

As someone who spent 20 years doing aerial photography, I would heartily agree with this. Atmospheric moisture saturation is also a very significant contributor to sky color/tone.

[hs118 707]

Looking at another thread here at Avsim, there is a group called AviationLads that developed 2 PTA presets....one for warmer climes and one for cooler climes.

This differentiation is an acknowledgement of the differences that atmospheric moisture and sun angle can make. Less atmospheric moisture means clearer skies at longer distances, lower sun angle means warmer overall color balance.

I tried both of the presets and, while not completely to my taste (based on my prejudiced experience in a couple of USA regions)...salute to them for considering the reality.