So far, as shader addons go, I used PTA, Envshade and REX EF. In my opinion, I get the best visuals if I use REX EF (Auto mode) in combination with PTA (with default MattDavies preset). I know it's a bit redundant to use two shader addons but I have no time and interest to tweak the shaders, I just want to load the addon and fly, and the combination of those two give me pretty much what I want out-of-the-box. I would use just REX EF but I find the effects it provides a bit too subtle. If I throw PTA into the mix I get the visuals I find the most realistic. There are a few issues though. First, the contrast between cloud shadows and sunny areas is too strong. Second, even when the sun goes down but it's not dark yet, I still get strong shadows and bright areas in the VC as the sun was still shining. Third, I'd like to keep using HDR, since it's a feature in P3D and I don't know why would I want to turn it off, but the PTA preset I'm using recommends turning it off.

So, here are my questions. Is anybody using REX EF and PTA together? Which preset are you using? If you're using the default MattDavies preset are you experiencing the same issues as I am? Did you tweak any values to eliminate those issues? Any other general recommendations about using those two addons together?

The problem of current PTA presets are: they are also dynamic. You can easily see this if for a variable in PTA the preset is not using a fixed value but some kind of a string defining the (dynamic) value.

Now, it is rather easy to conclude that a dynamic PTA preset and a dynamic setup via EF will not go along pretty well, no? I therefore stopped using PTA completely, EF offers all I need and with the mini GUI, I can easily change the shaders on the fly and save the setting, if I like it.

If you find a PTA preset that absolutely suits you and uses only fixed values, you might get good results even if combining it with EF. But depending on the external circumstances (weather, time of day etc.), it might still result in unwanted side effects...