Yosemite Valley scenery - photogrammetry creation

[Christopher Low 5,354]

On 10/15/2020 at 10:08 PM, VFXSimmer said:

Here's a quick video that explains how

Why are the registration and aircraft name mirror images in that screenshot??

[VFXSimmer 1,310]

2 hours ago, Christopher Low said:

Why are the registration and aircraft name mirror images in that screenshot??

They probably flopped the video for composition reasons, that'd be my guess.

[VFXSimmer 1,310]

UPDATE:  New Version 1.2.0

https://flightsim.to/file/384/yosemite-valley

This update adds full compatibility with the World Update II USA.

It was a little tricky - with the current SDK there is no way to remove the new landmarks.  However I was able to cheat it by putting a terraform rectangle beneath it and sink them into the ground low enough that they no longer conflicted with my version.

This also includes a brand new HALF DOME that uses the same process as the earlier updated El Capitan, i.e. it uses a hand welded lower res mesh with a hi-res texture and normal map to allow extremely high detail with an FPS friendly asset.

It ALSO includes my first attempt at collisions.  They arent 100% perfect.  The only way I've been able to get anything was to lay a low res invisible mesh on top of the upper faces of the objects (currently only works with El Cap and Half Dome).  Since its lower res on a fairly complex surface, it can never be a perfect match so there are places where the collision surface is slightly above or slightly below the visible one.  But its a start...  In testing I also ran into a few instances when 'taxiing' on the surface and I suddenly pop through to the ground.  Not sure yet why this happens..  All this COULD be cleared up when MS/Asobo flesh out the SDK docs with regards to exactly how their collision system works.  Still .. it is fun to attempt a short field landing on top of Half Dome.

 

The process I'm using is a bit labor intensive and time consuming.  I am marching my way through the park trying to replace my initial layout that came straight out of Google Maps.  If you download the latest you'll see my new objects intermixed with the older ones. FYI, my plan going forward is to replace the rest in the following order:

1) Yosemite Falls - using the new particle system for moving waterfall mist when Asobo releases it in the upcoming SDK update

2) Bridalveil Falls

3) Glacier Point (including the lookout area and facilities)

4) Vernal & Nevada Falls

5) The Awahanee Hotel and surrounding cliffs

 

Given my available free time each section will take about a month or so and I'll continue to release piecemeal as I finish them.

 

[Steve Dra 7,588]

12 minutes ago, VFXSimmer said:

UPDATE:  New Version 1.2.0

https://flightsim.to/file/384/yosemite-valley

This update adds full compatibility with the World Update II USA.

It was a little tricky - with the current SDK there is no way to remove the new landmarks.  However I was able to cheat it by putting a terraform rectangle beneath it and sink them into the ground low enough that they no longer conflicted with my version.

This also includes a brand new HALF DOME that uses the same process as the earlier updated El Capitan, i.e. it uses a hand welded lower res mesh with a hi-res texture and normal map to allow extremely high detail with an FPS friendly asset.

It ALSO includes my first attempt at collisions.  They arent 100% perfect.  The only way I've been able to get anything was to lay a low res invisible mesh on top of the upper faces of the objects (currently only works with El Cap and Half Dome).  Since its lower res on a fairly complex surface, it can never be a perfect match so there are places where the collision surface is slightly above or slightly below the visible one.  But its a start...  In testing I also ran into a few instances when 'taxiing' on the surface and I suddenly pop through to the ground.  Not sure yet why this happens..  All this COULD be cleared up when MS/Asobo flesh out the SDK docs with regards to exactly how their collision system works.  Still .. it is fun to attempt a short field landing on top of Half Dome.

 

The process I'm using is a bit labor intensive and time consuming.  I am marching my way through the park trying to replace my initial layout that came straight out of Google Maps.  If you download the latest you'll see my new objects intermixed with the older ones. FYI, my plan going forward is to replace the rest in the following order:

1) Yosemite Falls - using the new particle system for moving waterfall mist when Asobo releases it in the upcoming SDK update

2) Bridalveil Falls

3) Glacier Point (including the lookout area and facilities)

4) Vernal & Nevada Falls

5) The Awahanee Hotel and surrounding cliffs

 

Given my available free time each section will take about a month or so and I'll continue to release piecemeal as I finish them.

 

Grabbing the updates now....will check it out, drop a few screens and let you know what I see. (very excited to try some landings on places that in real life would put me in jail. 🙂 )

[wthomas33065 994]

1 hour ago, VFXSimmer said:

This update adds full compatibility with the World Update II USA.

Great news.  

I originally uninstalled your add-on because I thought the World Update would render it unnecessary.  I realized my error as soon as I saw that Half-Dome wouldn't even partially render until 1.5 miles of the aircraft.  Like.. What good is that?  (BTW,  Using the same "trick" you did for this on Devil's Tower seems required now too.).  

I'll be using both of your products for those areas since the pop in for some of these POI's is simply way too close.  

[kaosfere 3,115]

Fabulous work! I flew through the valley again to test my new video card a couple days ago and noticed some post-update flaws.     Thanks for continuing to work on and improve it for us.

[VFXSimmer 1,310]

51 minutes ago, wthomas33065 said:

Great news.  

I originally uninstalled your add-on because I thought the World Update would render it unnecessary.  I realized my error as soon as I saw that Half-Dome wouldn't even partially render until 1.5 miles of the aircraft.  Like.. What good is that?  (BTW,  Using the same "trick" you did for this on Devil's Tower seems required now too.).  

I'll be using both of your products for those areas since the pop in for some of these POI's is simply way too close.  

I'll work on an update for Devil's Tower.

The amazing thing is the pop-in bug is something I identified and submitted a zendesk report for - it was marked as 'solved'...   I had originally had the same thing happening with my Devil's Tower scenery and fixed it by baking all scales into the original geometry.  I love the sim and Asobo's enthusiasm is evident in all of their videos .. they just seem to be a bit overwhelmed.  In the meantime I just wish they included an easier way to override their material when a 3rd party solution works better - even if they are just stopgaps until more permanent fixes can be had.

[wthomas33065 994]

Just now, VFXSimmer said:

I'll work on an update for Devil's Tower.

The amazing thing is the pop-in bug is something I identified and submitted a zendesk report for - it was marked as 'solved'...   I had originally had the same thing happening with my Devil's Tower scenery and fixed it by baking all scales into the original geometry.  I love the sim and Asobo's enthusiasm is evident in all of their videos .. they just seem to be a bit overwhelmed.  In the meantime I just wish they included an easier way to override their material when a 3rd party solution works better - even if they are just stopgaps until more permanent fixes can be had.

I haven't tried it, I'll give you feedback, I just assumed you'd have to do the same thing.  Might be fine.

 

[cavaricooper 2,615]

@VFXSimmer, I'm sure my buddy @Steve Dra will soon have much more to show, but I took a little hop in the Got Gravel Savage Carbon Cub, and the day's last rays on El Capitan caught my eye... perhaps they will catch yours as well, and demonstrate my gratitude for your work.  Between your Yosemite and also Zion and Bryce, there is a LOT to be grateful for.  This sort of detail is not possible for Asobo (after all they need to concentrate on the whole world) and it is exactly the sort of detail that will allow MSFS to flourish.  Simply lovely.  I look forward to each of your updates, and will continue to load and fly them.  Bravo!

C

Edited December 1, 2020 by cavaricooper

[Steve Dra 7,588]

2 hours ago, cavaricooper said:

 

@VFXSimmer, I'm sure my buddy @Steve Dra will soon have much more to show, but I took a little hop in the Got Gravel Savage Carbon Cub, and the day's last rays on El Capitan caught my eye... perhaps they will catch yours as well, and demonstrate my gratitude for your work.  Between your Yosemite and also Zion and Bryce, there is a LOT to be grateful for.  This sort of detail is not possible for Asobo (after all they need to concentrate on the whole world) and it is exactly the sort of detail that will allow MSFS to flourish.  Simply lovely.  I look forward to each of your updates, and will continue to load and fly them.  Bravo!

C

I did fly there this evening and sadly I was getting pretty bad frames when I was heading towards the scenery.  I recently upgraded to a better machine and bumped my settings up accordingly...but still trying to dial it in, so that may be a factor.

Anyway..it looks gorgeous, and the collision heights are a off a tad as you suspected...but not enough to stop me from landing on Half Dome. 🙂 

And a nice parting shot as I took off again....

I'lll keep tweaking my system and let you know if that was the reason for low frames...as I didn't experience them on my old system the last time I tested for you.
 

[leprechaunlive 1,852]

So the sim have to draw your scenery, PLUS the upgraded Asobo's one? Could be why @Steve Drahad bad frames.

And yea, its a shame that all landmarks are regrouped in one BGL, we cant pick the ones we want (or dont want).

[VFXSimmer 1,310]

 Hi @Steve Dra

Thanks for giving the latest version a spin.  Bummed to hear about the frame rate issue.

To help troubleshoot, do you mind telling me which version you are using.  You can tell by the name of the zip file.  The one you get from flightsim.to is the first one; the others you can get from the /FS2020Creation reddit (google drive link in comments)

vfxsimmermods-yosemite-valley-16k. - this is the full valley w/ new El Cap & Half Dome and old versions of the rest w/ 16k textures for the El Cap & Half Dome

vfxsimmermods-yosemite-valley-4k. - this is the same as above but with 4k textures for the El Cap & Half Dome

vfxsimmermods-yosemite-valley-NEWmaterialonly-16k - this is JUST the 16k El Cap & Half Dome

vfxsimmermods-yosemite-valley-NEWmaterialonly-4k - this is JUST the 4k El Cap & Half Dome

If my memory serves me right, last time you downloaded JUST El Capitan at 4k without the rest of the park?  Am I right, or no?  

Whats odd is that the new models (El Cap & Half Dome) have significantly less polygons (only about 20%) than the same models in my original scenery.  But I've ONLY replaced those so far, the rest of the scenery is still the 'inefficient' style.  If you are using the 16k maps, that would increase your GPU memory footprint however.  My original version used 8k maps so these are 4x bigger.  If you use the 4k maps however, that would be REDUCTION from the original.

I'm getting between 39-40 fps in the area with vfxsimmermods-yosemite-valley-16k right now and using about 6.5-7G of GPU RAM.  What's your GPU's memory budget?  If its less than that then perhaps your performance hit is due to memory paging?

@leprechaunlive It is 'possible' that having to draw both is an issue, but their objects dont look that heavy.  I don't think thats the issue, but who knows? 

Let me know.  Want to make at least one version that performs well on all systems 🙂

Best

VFXSimmer

[Steve Dra 7,588]

38 minutes ago, VFXSimmer said:

 Hi @Steve Dra

Thanks for giving the latest version a spin.  Bummed to hear about the frame rate issue.

To help troubleshoot, do you mind telling me which version you are using.  You can tell by the name of the zip file.  The one you get from flightsim.to is the first one; the others you can get from the /FS2020Creation reddit (google drive link in comments)

vfxsimmermods-yosemite-valley-16k. - this is the full valley w/ new El Cap & Half Dome and old versions of the rest w/ 16k textures for the El Cap & Half Dome

vfxsimmermods-yosemite-valley-4k. - this is the same as above but with 4k textures for the El Cap & Half Dome

vfxsimmermods-yosemite-valley-NEWmaterialonly-16k - this is JUST the 16k El Cap & Half Dome

vfxsimmermods-yosemite-valley-NEWmaterialonly-4k - this is JUST the 4k El Cap & Half Dome

If my memory serves me right, last time you downloaded JUST El Capitan at 4k without the rest of the park?  Am I right, or no?  

Whats odd is that the new models (El Cap & Half Dome) have significantly less polygons (only about 20%) than the same models in my original scenery.  But I've ONLY replaced those so far, the rest of the scenery is still the 'inefficient' style.  If you are using the 16k maps, that would increase your GPU memory footprint however.  My original version used 8k maps so these are 4x bigger.  If you use the 4k maps however, that would be REDUCTION from the original.

I'm getting between 39-40 fps in the area with vfxsimmermods-yosemite-valley-16k right now and using about 6.5-7G of GPU RAM.  What's your GPU's memory budget?  If its less than that then perhaps your performance hit is due to memory paging?

@leprechaunlive It is 'possible' that having to draw both is an issue, but their objects dont look that heavy.  I don't think thats the issue, but who knows? 

Let me know.  Want to make at least one version that performs well on all systems 🙂

Best

VFXSimmer

I grabbed vfxsimmermods-yosemite-valley-16k_L8wac.zip from .to I believe.  and yes....one time I just grabbed el cap after you updated it....but before that I grabbed the whole thing, falls and all.  and in both cases...no performance issues I could notice.

Didn't look at GPU usage but will next time.  Went from a old Titan Maxwell 12gb to a 2070 super 8gb.   But a 10700k processor up from an 8700k....so way better cpu and 2 more cores.

[VFXSimmer 1,310]

6 minutes ago, Steve Dra said:

I grabbed vfxsimmermods-yosemite-valley-16k_L8wac.zip from .to I believe.  and yes....one time I just grabbed el cap after you updated it....but before that I grabbed the whole thing, falls and all.  and in both cases...no performance issues I could notice.

Didn't look at GPU usage but will next time.  Went from a old Titan Maxwell 12gb to a 2070 super 8gb.   But a 10700k processor up from an 8700k....so way better cpu and 2 more cores.

I suspect its the GPU memory then.  Best way to test is to try with the 4k version, and then try with JUST El Cap and Half Dome.

If you turn on Dev mode, you can activate the FPS counter which also shows GPU memory.

If this works, then the fix is easy - I can output versions with downrez'd maps

[kaosfere 3,115]

23 hours ago, VFXSimmer said:

something I identified and submitted a zendesk report for - it was marked as 'solved'

You may know this already, but Asobo have stated that flagging something as "solved" in Zendesk just means that they have acknowledged it and added it to their internal backlog.  It doesn't mean they've actually done anything with it yet.

A little confusing, but that's how they're doing it.