How do you get those pictures?

[Guest mhardy]

I'm not sure if this is the right forum, but...I'm trying to find any information / help in getting those great screenshots. I do not understand how everyone manages to loose the jaggies etc. that make a screenshot look like reallife.Could someone please explain the steps or point me in the right direction??PS I have Photoshop 7.0Hardyboy

[John_Cillis 2,406]

I moved the thread here, since forum rules dictate that screenshots only be posted in the screenshots forum. I placed the thread here since a number of sim users -- Fly, MSFS, Xplane post beautiful screenshots. We all have our methods.One I employ the most is lighting. None of my screenshots are retouched in any way--instead, I use the dawn/dusk hours of MSFS to bring life and depth to my scenes. I usually take my shots with the sun more or less behind me unless I am using the sun for effect, which is true of most of my real life photography as well. I like screenshots in areas with mountain coverage--the basin and range region of Nevada is one of my favorites. In FS2002 and FS2004, mountains cast shadows and add a lot of beauty to shots that might otherwise look flat and dull.Clouds are also key to making a great shot--I manually set up all of my cloud layers. The horizon in MSFS always bugged me, so I created an add-on called "Soft Horizons" which makes the horizon seem more real compared to what we really see in the Flight Levels. It makes for some beautiful shots.Here's links to a couple of recent threads I've posted:http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...&mesg_id=219199http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...&mesg_id=218447As for jaggies, I use the default MSFS AA combined with my GEF 4200's aniso. filtering. However, I've found that FS2004 prefers certain texures to contain mips for the best AA, so I try to pick my aircraft accordingly. For imaging I simply hit printscreen, open up MSPaint, paste the result there and save it as a jpg. -John

[1mikel151 71]

Great reply from John, just wanted to add to it. The more Anti Aliasing, the less jaggies, but also the worse performance. You might also want to try a screenshot utility to help you take and store more than 1 shot at a time. Try Screenshooter, Snapper or MultiGrab.Look forward to your shots!Regards, MichaelKDFWhttp://www.calvirair.com/mcpics/mcdcvabanner.jpgCalVirAir International

[ORN 1]

Hardyboy,that is a bit hard to answer without seeming conceited. But I'll have a go anyway. Since I spend several hours a day at work with Photoshop, I try spending as little time as possible when I make screenshots. So my shots are unedited except for some small merely technical stuff. This is one way to do it:1. Set up the sim so it looks as good as possible. If you use the new fs recorder module, you can do all the screenies after the flight, so you don't have to interrupt the flying. And you can turn all those sliders to the right now that framerates doesn't matter anymore. Antialiasing is a must of course but:2. What makes a screenshot good is not only the technical aspect; angle, attitude, moode, drama, scenery and stuff like that are far more important imho. I've seen very exciting shots with poor graphic quality, and opposite.3. When you have the excact picture on the screen, press Prt Scr on the keybord, enter PS, new picture, and paste.4. Now you can add drama to the picture with a very simple tool: crop. The right cutting can add tons of drama to the picture. Remember that the crop tool also has handles outside the corners so you can tilt the cutout. 5. Making the picture a little bit smaller also works like magic to get rid of the jaggies. I use a 1280x1024 screen, and use to reduce the size to 920 wide, height dependent of cutout. A 1 pixel black frame is ok to separate light aereas from the white background.6. Finally Save for web, jpg with no less than 55 in quality.But again, let me emphasize a few things that I think makes an interresting picture: There is SOMETHING with it that has some kind of attitude or tells a story, no matter what; big, dark, funny, scary, wild, beautiful, claustrofobic, speedy or whatever. And the actual plane adds to that, just like a funny looking plane (Maule perhaps) suits a funny moody picture, and the Herk is top notch if you wanna make a majestic and dramatic shot. The 737 in my opinion is boring, it is not long, short, beautiful, big, ugly or anything at all. Just a ... plane. But that's just me.Hope this helps and good luck, here are mine from todays flight:http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...19927&mode=fullEagle

[Guest Shalomar]

FLYing? It's cool. Trillions of birds and insects can't be wrong.My personal tips: PANELS! Yes, exterior is cool, but you see what you see. You can really "get into" a panel and read it. No A/P on, right on the glideslope, just broke out, centerline, BEAUTIFUL!!!!Tip #2: When taking pics, FLY OR MONITOR the plane!!! Don't mess up that cool scene!If you ever try FLY II, there is a nifty JPEG screenshot ute. It's on ROTW's addon DVD or in the library. You get resized, custom setting quality prints and it can be as small as 25 KB for exterior and 50 for a panel while IMHO "lookin' good".Best Regards, Donny:-wave

[ORN 1]

>>FLYing? It's cool. Trillions of birds and insects can't be>wrong.>"Eat s#it! 256 billion flies can't be wrong." :-lol Eagle

[Guest Shalomar]

Ya got me rolling man!!!!:-beerchugFLYing? It's cool. Trillions of birds and insects can't be wrong!!!

[ORN 1]

Yeah, I saw that on a cubicle door in a public toilet in London. ROFLMAO wasn't an option on that filthy floor (Dingwalls back in the 80's i think). And at the bottom edge of the same door:

[ORN 1]

>>Is this all a result of photoshop editing...if so how? If not, then>what is it?>>HardyboyI haven't done any editing at all in Photoshop, only cropping the images. I have a very good videocard, so the sliders are maxed out both in the sim and the card settings. And like I said, I reduce the size of the images from 1280 to 920 wide to blow away the rest of the jaggies. Can you post a screenshot here, maybe I can see what you need ...Eagle