I doubt that FFTF was ever "supported" by LM. The most that I've seen any of their technical staff say about it was to explain what it does. Messing around with any internal setting that is not accessible from the P3d UI has this theoretical disclaimer, "If you  alter an internal variable, don't ask LM for support." That's why it's not worth messing around with any internal variables. That doesn't stop people from not only changing FFTF, but also altering the shader source code, which is even more unpredictable. But that doesn't mean that one can't gain performance and IQ improvements by doing so. 

3 minutes ago, Chris Bell said:

im wrong, its listed there again!

I don't think that means anything one way or the other. LM doesn't carefully edit the SDK guidance with every minor revision. Most of the minor version changes end up in the release notes.

bottom of the page (for the longest time it wasn't listed under v4 advanced configurations)

https://www.prepar3d.com/SDKv4/prepar3d/getting_help/advanced_configuration.html

Edited July 29, 20187 yr by Chris Bell

Nah, it's been there. In any case, Gerard's experience with FFTF Dynamic matches mine. And I use 0.50 at higher altitude.  Maybe it's a placebo effect, but I hardly ever see any blurries.

5 minutes ago, jabloomf1230 said:

Nah, it's been there. In any case, Gerard's experience with FFTF Dynamic matches mine. And I use 0.50 at higher altitude.  Maybe it's a placebo effect, but I hardly ever see any blurries.

It is not a placebo effect.

Lock your franerate higher than the Sim can keep up with at a very heavy airport without FFTF Dynamic. Note the franerate.

Now startup FFTF Dynamic and set it to   0.01 . See the framerate.  On my 3 screen setup it adds 30% fps.

That is the difference between 0.33 and 0.01 , which shows that the program is working...

5 minutes ago, jabloomf1230 said:

Nah, it's been there. In any case, Gerard's experience with FFTF Dynamic matches mine. And I use 0.50 at higher altitude.  Maybe it's a placebo effect, but I hardly ever see any blurries.

Placebo effect?! I can’t believe Jay would ever fall for that..lol

Nor would I and, I suspect, all the other users who have come to value what this utility can bring to the party. However, while I have configured FFTF Dynamic to start with the sim, there will be many occasions when I feel I don’t really need it and will shut it down after first ensuring the current value of the variable is the default 0.33.

I believe LM settled on this value as the one that works to deliver optimum performance in the default sim installation with a wide variety of in-sim settings. However, very few of us run with default installations so any additional help is always appreciated! 

Like many of the files, Prepar3D.cfg is accessible to the user and the temptation to experiment with variable values is always there. Changing values, such as with the FFTF, can indeed prove to be helpful in certain circumstances. Being able to change it dynamically as circumstances are changing is better still.

Mike

@Cruachan
if FFTF is providing you perceivable consistent frame relieve why are you turning it off? 

Edited July 29, 20187 yr by Chris Bell

I said maybe it's a placebo effect, because I can't prove definitely that the utility cures the problem with blurry scenery. I also said that I don't get the blurries. People can judge my opinion like they judge anyone else's.

@jabloomf1230
im curious if default is 0.33 and the objective is to lower this number;
whats the logic behind going in the opposite direction? 

Edited July 29, 20187 yr by Chris Bell

14 minutes ago, Chris Bell said:

@jabloomf1230
im curious if default is 0.33 and the objective is to lower this number;
whats the logic behind going in the opposite direction? 

FFTF is the fraction of time per frame that the CPU spends on scenery loading. 

http://www.prepar3d.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6312&t=120133&p=139706&hilit=Fiber#p139706

he is referring to min/max values based on if "in a particular predicament"; not FFTF value,
MIN_FIBER_TIME_SEC (Default is 0.001 or 1ms)
MAX_FIBER_TIME_SEC (Default is 0.1 or 100ms)

Edit: for general knowledge FFTF itself should always be incremented in 3's
i cant recall exactly why atm; i just remember there is a logical theory behind this,

Edited July 29, 20187 yr by Chris Bell

based on Beau's advice
if you locked frames to 30 externally and in reality getting 60...
you would set and try to rectify for the "sleep" time, the bump suggested is in relation to FFTF.33
FIBER_FRAME_TIME_FRACTION=0.33
MIN_FIBER_TIME_SEC=0.001
MAX_FIBER_TIME_SEC=0.1

his advice is to adjust in this way to compensate for the 16ms sleep (if that was the case!)
FIBER_FRAME_TIME_FRACTION=0.33
MIN_FIBER_TIME_SEC=0.001
MAX_FIBER_TIME_SEC=0.084

the numbers correlate to 0.33 FFTF initial value,

Edited July 29, 20187 yr by Chris Bell

1 hour ago, Chris Bell said:

@Cruachan
if FFTF is providing you perceivable consistent frame relieve why are you turning it off? 

Hi Chris,

I don’t turn it off. Indeed, I believe this is not actually possible. If I run with all the Prepar3D default values that would include FFTF = 0.33. If I wanted to change that value I would have to add the entry to Prepar3D.cfg and the value would then be fixed which might not be ideal. Alternatively I can use the FFTF Dynamic utility which changes the value on the fly without any further interventions by me.

I am able to sustain 30fps for most of the time without using the FFTF Dynamic utility. However, there are situations when additional loading on the sim, as introduced by some Addons along with scenery complexities and densities, can cause frame rates to drop to an unacceptable level and performance starts to suffer. The FFTF Dynamic utility can alleviate this problem by temporarily lowering the FFTF to a value within a preconfigured range without the need for pausing the sim and adjusting various in-sim settings. It offers flexibility in being configurable in several ways to suit the user’s requirements.

It’s just another tool to be used as and when we feel it to be appropriate.

Regards,

Mike

im sorry Mike your FFTF usage premises contradict itself,
FFTF is not intended to increase performance in harsh approaches or takeoff's!
by reducing FFTF interval value you are in effect increasing load on your system by instructing it to cycle faster!
hence inducing blurries potential; especially when rendering a much wider terrain radius!

as Rob advised earlier this creates an artificial effect of higher frames as you cycle through faster a much smaller radius as you come closer or in a demanding scenery,

Edited July 29, 20187 yr by Chris Bell

Look, I haven't seen higher altitude blurries neither at 30k nor at 10k feet with my current hardware and settings. Below 10k my fps may struggle if I use higher Scenery, Autogen or Trees settings. My always P3Dv4.3 settings are: FPS Unlimited / Vsync On, with my Monitor's refresh @ 25Hz. My 6700K CPU is HT On @4.6GHz, launching P3Dv4.3 with AM  @253/FD (11.11.11.01). Neither FFTF nor FFTF Dynamic are of any value to me, the case is closed. In my case.

Cheers,