FSPS : FFTF DYNAMIC P3Dv5 Released

[chapstick 2,757]

Speaking of SimMarket... why is FFTF V5 still not on their site? I know it's just like $3 off or whatever but I also know as soon as I buy it direct, SimMarket will finally post it...

[G-RFRY 1,712]

40 minutes ago, Chapstick said:

Speaking of SimMarket... why is FFTF V5 still not on their site? I know it's just like $3 off or whatever but I also know as soon as I buy it direct, SimMarket will finally post it...

Don't see a problem buying from the Devs site or SimMarket the later takes a cut off the Dev for selling it. I did not purchase from SimMarket but from FSPS store.

Edited May 18, 2020 by G-RFRY

[Achilles Philippopoulos 115]

Hi,

Just to clarify why other stores does not have the product yet is because I always keep new products for some days only at our store to have a better and faster reaction to support at possible bugs and fix them. Until now we do not have any bug.

From the tech side of view, we can handle FFTF value also in unlimited frames but it will never work the same way as at locked frames. You will never see better frames with unlimited frames and fftf but you will eliminate some blurries and stutters. Depends from your pc specs and the bottleneck you create. When you set unlimited frames you always have somewhere a bottleneck at your hardware. It maybe the gpu or the ssd or hdd or motherboard or memory.

As I am able to see what is happening inside code (also in running mode), I can assure you all that locked frames will never betray you. I like the clear and effective coding that runs smooth. I can write a very big story but this is not the point.  I offer a tool that modifies FFTF value in real time to save you from blurries and stutters. Its up to you to find the best way to benefit from it according to your pc specs. And I am telling you that if FFTF value is 0.01 and you see blurries or stutters then your p3d settings are high for your pc.    

 

 

[SteveW 1,792]

With the slider in a locked position, the system knows by definition what and when the next frame will be. Each frame is calculated for the same time period ahead of time. With unlimited and no limiter the next frame time and place in the sim are not consistent. More consistent with the external limit and the FFTF algorithm can do a better prediction. Being a look ahead buffer that is heavy on the system if the buffer is always depleted. In those cases FFTF has no effect.

[Bert Pieke 7,585]

Boy... these two technical geniuses sure have a way of making a complex problem more complicated..

I love reading their stuff and never know how to use it..

Neither of them explain what locking the framerate outside P3D will do for us..

[SteveW 1,792]

You mean External Limit Bert 😊 Locked fps is on the slider in Display Settings, fps Limiter is in NCP. Limiting externally leaves CPU time but there's not  the same consistency between frames. So an fps trace shows a wobble. With Locked on the slider fps is constant and shows a flat line.

[Noel 4,502]

30 minutes ago, SteveW said:

With the slider in a locked position, the system knows by definition what and when the next frame will be. Each frame is calculated for the same time period ahead of time. With unlimited and no limiter the next frame time and place in the sim are not consistent. More consistent with the external limit and the FFTF algorithm can do a better prediction. Being a look ahead buffer that is heavy on the system if the buffer is always depleted. In those cases FFTF has no effect.

I'm trying to see if FFTF Dynamic might be able to play a role in those sudden spikes of main thread and terrain loaders that to me seem like the sim is trying to grab a tile that is too large to bring too quickly.  To me, the P3D's algorithm that does this ought to sacrifice something less relevant in order to deal w/ that sudden big demand, or take smaller portions of it, etc.  Sometimes I get these in odd places that aren't necessarily predicted, for example in settings that the CPU is keeping up very very well with showing maybe an average load of 65% then WHAM in comes something that just nails it for a second or two, then it's back to that modest load.  I'm hoping using a high FFTF value all the way to 1.0 and an AGL somewhere in the neighborhood of maybe 6000-7000' might play a role in letting the CPU prepare that big tile w/ more resources towards loading that tile earlier in the sequence of the 'long frame' issue.   The first test flight looked hopeful but hard to tell since these 'long frames' don't happen often and are hard to predict where they will occur.

[Bert Pieke 7,585]

12 minutes ago, Noel said:

I'm trying to see if FFTF Dynamic might be able to play a role in those sudden spikes of main thread and terrain loaders that to me seem like the sim is trying to grab a tile that is too large to bring too quickly. 

I sure hope you find some gold there..

My hope is the P3D coders will figure out a way to keep the main rendering thread going uninterrupted while the texture loading does its thing in the background.

Why a "too large chunk of something" should be able to stop the simulation, as it does, is what I do not understand..  (LM are you listening?)

Edited May 19, 2020 by Bert Pieke

[Bert Pieke 7,585]

15 minutes ago, SteveW said:

You mean External Limit Bert 😊 Locked fps is on the slider in Display Settings, fps Limiter is in NCP. Limiting externally leaves CPU time but there's not  the same consistency between frames. So an fps trace shows a wobble. With Locked on the slider fps is constant and shows a flat line.

Indeed "External Limit" via NCP is what I mean..

Now, can you tell me if the wobble that you see in the fps trace should concern me?

It seems buttery smooth to me, wobble or no wobble.. and my CPU is not working as hard..

So far, I prefer it that way 🙂

[Noel 4,502]

I downloaded the latest NV Inspector, found the VSYNC drop-down and chose 1/2 so I could set my monitor to 60Hz.  I reloaded P3D after this, left it in UNLIMITED w/ vsync enabled, but frames stayed at 60 (or below as the situation unfolded).  Any ideas what to look into to be able to sync to 30 frames using a divider?

 

Edited May 19, 2020 by Noel

[SteveW 1,792]

15 minutes ago, Bert Pieke said:

can you tell me if the wobble that you see in the fps trace should concern me?

No, but can manifest in micro stutter with VSync (Display Settings) enabled. With VSync disabled you get more shifting in the scene (like tearing).

 

4 minutes ago, Noel said:

I downloaded the latest NV Inspector, found the VSYNC drop-down and chose 1/2 so I could set my monitor to 60Hz.  I reloaded P3D after this, left it in UNLIMITED w/ vsync enabled, but frames stayed at 60 (or below as the situation unfolded).  Any ideas what to look into to be able to sync to 30 frames using a divider?

 

If you try that with FSX, in Fullscreen mode - that is Exclusive mode - 1/2 refresh works to make a 60Hz into 30Hz. Try FSX in Windowed mode and you don't get 30Hz.

In P3D Exclusive mode is not used we only ever see a window, when fullscreen the window is a borderless and captionless window and works like FSX in a window.

[SteveW 1,792]

7 minutes ago, Noel said:

  Any ideas what to look into to be able to sync to 30 frames using a divider?

I mentioned earlier to use the external limit in the NCP. Set to 29..30 on a 60Hz monitor which will limit P3D to 30fps.

[Noel 4,502]

24 minutes ago, SteveW said:

I mentioned earlier to use the external limit in the NCP. Set to 29..30 on a 60Hz monitor which will limit P3D to 30fps.

Shortly after FSX released I realized what was needed was an external limiter because it was clear by using the in-sim limiter overall performance was greatly impaired over unlimited.   I found an odd app I can't remember its name but it worked.

Ok I will try the external limiter and see if it can compare to Holy Grail Lite ;o)

[bbuckley 133]

45 minutes ago, Noel said:

Any ideas what to look into to be able to sync to 30 frames using a divider?

I use RTSS.  Scanline x/2 and it works great.

[SteveW 1,792]

8 minutes ago, Noel said:

…it was clear by using the in-sim limiter overall performance was greatly impaired over unlimited.   

Because the in-sim limiter is not a limiter, rather it has no need to be limited since it is already decided ahead of time the next frame time and content and so requires more CPU throughput to complete the look ahead.