Captains,

What can possibly be said about the Boeing 747 that has not already been said in some form or fashion?

Not much, from my perspective.  After all, if you are spending time in this particular corner of the internet, chances are you have already read most of the back-story to the airplane's development and heard all of the superlatives related to it's impact on global commerce.

I did read something new this week:  She has carried the equivalent of 75% of the global population- which really is staggering when you stop to ponder the number.

In honor of her birthday, I thought it might be appropriate to share with you another short update on our progress toward pushing an update for Prepar3D v4.4+ users who are eagerly awaiting PBR treatment of The Queen of the Skies.

Today, rather than our tongue-firmly-in-cheek PBR demonstration from 29JAN, let us take a look at the original 747-400.  Ship 1.  Fully tricked out in what we think is our final round of changes to PBR rendering on a fully metallic 747-400.

The image above shows you something that most of you probably never realized you were missing, but will completely change your appreciation of just how important reflective and scattered lighting is to the visual quality of in-game imagery.  Take a look along the side of the fuselage, above the top of the doors and you will notice that you are seeing the reflection of the tops of the clouds and the faded light blue horizon line as it fades higher into a deeper blue above the opposite side horizon.

This is not something you can mimic in a static reflective texture.  It requires dynamic reflection to look good- and OH DOES IT LOOK GOOD in the sim.  😎

Now, looking at the above image, taken after a course reversal to put the sun on the camera-side of the airplane, take a look at the reflection of towering cumulus on the back-side of the upper deck structure where it slopes down to meet the roof line of the superstructure above the wing.

Yes!  You are seeing the active reflection of the clouds behind the airplane, reflected dynamically as the airplane and viewer-angle changes around the airplane.

Interestingly, you can also see a difference in the reflective quality of the surfaces around the cockpit windows and the surrounding skin, which is another aspect of this rendering process that really brings the model alive.

Another quick course reversal to show you how we have treated the differences in reflective quality along the lap joints and rivet lines in the skin.  This has been improved slightly since the previous update and really looks the treat in the sim.  Notice also the change in reflective quality right at the wing leading edge root where the hot-spot from the sun reflection is half on polished aluminum and half on painted composite fairing.

These types of subtle details really make the airplane look alive in the sim- and we are excited to get them wrapped up and out to you.

 

Now lets take a look at how it all comes together in a standard carrier livery with a mix of metal and paint:  In keeping with our test flight theme, we'll use N662US, another one of the first production airframes, as she would have appeared fresh from the paint shop for her promotional photos in preparation for entry to service.

You can see how the reflective quality of the gloss paint used on the fuselage has a different quality than the metallic surface when it reflects light from the sun, and you can also see a subtle difference between the fuselage painted surface and the semi-gloss and matte coats used on the wing surfaces.

Below, is another rendition of an image we have shown you a few times- but it just looks so darned good, I didn't want to leave it out of the mix.  🤣

Another view, from behind this time, shows off the rivet lines and joins in the fuselage skin.  Some areas of the 747 are still constructed using standard round-headed rivets and you can clearly see them, particularly around the APU exhaust duct fairing and along the major structural lines in places where they are used.

I'm sure some of the enterprising livery painters will be able to make a very convincing application of grease and oil on that APU exhaust cone, playing off of the rivet heads as it does on the actual airplane.  (We're looking at you, Tavendale )

 

Release Schedule for This Update: We think we are finished with the PBR implementation now, and are preparing to roll it to the testing team this week.  While it is a major change in terms of workload, it is not difficult for them to test- so it should be a very short test period and then we will push the update to you via the PMDG Operations Center.

 

Now- a couple of quick items for those who hung on to the end here:

Happy Birthday BA!  As many of you have heard, British Airways has unveiled a series of legacy liveries that will be applied to their fleet in celebration of the centenary of the airline commencing operation.  Pete has created one of these, the BOAC livery to be applied to G-BYGC and we have just made it live in the PMDG Operations Center for those who wish to get a preview of what she will look like when she comes out of the paint hangar sporting her new look.

(I had an image of her that I was supposed to use in this post, and <censored> if I didn't lose the darn thing... sorry!)

 

Consolidating Prepar3D v4 Compatibility:  Effective with our next update cycle we will be releasing a series of updates for the 747 across all platforms as usual.  For users of Prepar3D v4, it will be important that you understand that we are only supporting Prepar3D v4.4+, and that our development and update policy moving forward will keep moving along with updates to the Prepar3D v4 product line.  We will publish more information on our requirements as we push the next round of updates, but if you are a Prepar3D v4 user who is not using v4.4 or later, you will need to upgrade your simulator platform.

This change has no impact on FSX or Prepar3D v3 users.

 

That is all I have for this update- but I will be back in a few days with information on "what the heck are they up to?"  That update will include some information on our new forum system, NG3, Global Flight Operations, and our view related to FSX/P3D development moving forward.  I might even slide in a remark or two related to X-Plane, but you will have to come back to find out. 

 

5 minutes ago, rsrandazzo said:

I might even slide in a remark or two related to X-Plane, but you will have to come back to find out. 

 

Looking forward to it! 😀

Great pics! Will the internal model (cockpit) also be receiving PBR treatment or limited to the external model only? Regards.

Amazing! Thanks for the update, Robert.

The pics look amazing! But I'm wondering if the 777 will be getting the same PBR treatment after the 747 is finalized?

Will this upcoming patch with PBR also include a fix for the take-off pause bug?

Alex Pugh

4 minutes ago, Chapstick said:

Will this upcoming patch with PBR also include a fix for the take-off pause bug?

Alex Pugh

The take off pause will be on the next patch. Logically it will be the same patch with the PBR

2 minutes ago, Olympic260 said:

The take off pause will be on the next patch. Logically it will be the same patch with the PBR

Ok, thanks... I'm looking forward to PBR (Pause Being Removed). 😉 

Alex Pugh

PBR looks so good on the 747. I cant wait for someone to make the Cathay Pacific -400BCF silver bullet livery. Also a 777-200ER expansion with the old AA livery would be great with this wonderfull PBR technique.

Wonderful news Robert and team.Looking forward to the updates and also Happy Birthday BA.🥳😊

Regards.

Absolutely gorgeous! Hopefully we can get some PBR in the cockpit too? Now that would be a stunner..

7 hours ago, Rob1594 said:

The pics look amazing! But I'm wondering if the 777 will be getting the same PBR treatment after the 747 is finalized?

+1 for the 777...  👍

6 hours ago, Kenzo said:

PBR looks so good on the 747. I cant wait for someone to make the Cathay Pacific -400BCF silver bullet livery. Also a 777-200ER expansion with the old AA livery would be great with this wonderfull PBR technique.

I already have (Cathay 400BCF metal).....just waiting for the PBR update....You'll see my Flying Tigers in PBR as well.

As for American...just check out my edition of another airframe in full PBR in the library. 😉

I hope the experienced I gained painting PBR metal for another model will allow me to get some PBR Queens out pretty quickly for you guys. 😉

I can't wait to paint the Queen decked out in real metal!

Edited February 10, 20197 yr by Steve Dra

28 minutes ago, Steve Dra said:

.You'll see my Flying Tigers in PBR as well.

👌👌👌👌

Geez Rob, you guys are making a good case for divorce. That is exactly what will happen if I tell my wife that I intend on upgrading my PC to accommodate V4.