Very dark cockpit in 5.2

[jimcarrel 688]

On 6/16/2021 at 7:04 AM, BiologicalNanobot said:

Hi,

I made that mod, and it is not surprising that beta testers could not "figure this out" earlier - it is simply not their job and they don't have to have that very specific knowledge about graphics programming. About LM... It is not surprising that they went with ACES instead of Uncharted 2 - ACES tonemapper is industry standard, for a good reason, but it requires a good quality HDR input for output to look good. Prepar3D has been shifting towards physically based lighting equations more and more, which increases the "quality" of HDR input. Until the transition is complete, this workaround should be fine. Though even with a good quality HDR input, I still find ACES too hard and contrasty for flight simulators, but it really depends on artistic choices of the developer.

I disabled Envshade and installed the original files (Envshade removes ShaderHsl stuff) and used your complete file. Good grief!, the difference was like night from day. It's almost perfect now, sure appreciate your knowledge. It's like a different graphic engine.

[coastaldriver 919]

Could somebody copy and paste a copy of the relevant file and or its changes. I have looked at the images for the changes but it seems either cut off or my eyes are not what they used to be so I found it very hard to read. I am sure I missed a critical syntax entry because when I tried it all I got was a blank screen so back to the original for the time being!

 

[Ray Proudfoot 8,952]

@coastaldriver, go to page 2 on this link. You’ll find the code to use which you can copy and paste into your file.

https://www.prepar3d.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6312&t=142594&sid=bc779218a8a2a6d519868312d34bc090&start=15

[coastaldriver 919]

Thanks Ray. That made it a bit easier! And yes that mod has certainly improved the interior aspect of the light v dark issue. Tried it on a variety of types and consistently improved that darkish interior cockpit to a more acceptable light. 

Edited June 28, 2021 by coastaldriver
addtional information

[coastaldriver 919]

I have tested this with a variety of aircraft but does this mod to the shaders also change the way light is managed outside that is reflections etc. The reason is that I like to do a lot of flying boat flying so you are mixing it with water and sky reflections. It appeared to me that the water reflectivity was altered and gave it a sort of milky look  Would this be the case? I find that with EA and dynamic lighting it takes one a while to get used to the shifts in glare and shades as the light is altered by change in direction, tilt or roll. It is also interesting they way cloud darkening and lighting in terms of the visible light is being altered. I think this area is going to be a interesting for future tweaks and changes as the Cloud Volumes were. I returned to my previous shader set up and ENVSHADE for the time being. Need to do a lot more reading on this area. 

[Flyinggok 55]

Hey,

I found a way by changing 1 Envshade value directly in the General.fx or via the Envshade control panel.

Via Envdir its called:

The name of this value is a bit wired, cause I dont see any change in AC shadow with this entry but a change in the VC lightning.

 

Via General.fx its called Envshade_AircraftBrightness_Multiplier = x.xx;

Negative values makes the VC brighter, positiv values darker.

I found my sweet spot at -0.75.

 

Here are some example screenshots:

https://imgur.com/TJl8ez2

 

 

 

EDIT: Okay it affects indeed the "shadows" in the cockpit. If you have rainy conditions, the cockpit get not so dark as it does usually but I likley have a lighter cockpit 😄

Ceers

Bernd

 

 

Edited July 1, 2021 by Flyinggok

[CaptKornDog 282]

2 hours ago, Flyinggok said:

Hey,

I found a way by changing 1 Envshade value directly in the General.fx or via the Envshade control panel.

Via Envdir its called:

The name of this value is a bit wired, cause I dont see any change in AC shadow with this entry but a change in the VC lightning.

 

Via General.fx its called Envshade_AircraftBrightness_Multiplier = x.xx;

Negative values makes the VC brighter, positiv values darker.

I found my sweet spot at -0.75.

Here are some example screenshots:

Doesn't that make the external/fuselage model also brighter?

Edited July 1, 2021 by Ray Proudfoot
Removed images in quoted post

[Alti 65]

you can also try to play with the contrast switch.

[Flyinggok 55]

8 hours ago, CaptKornDog said:

Doesn't that make the external/fuselage model also brighter?

Not for me

[B777ER 2,486]

On 6/16/2021 at 8:04 AM, BiologicalNanobot said:

Hi,

I made that mod, and it is not surprising that beta testers could not "figure this out" earlier - it is simply not their job and they don't have to have that very specific knowledge about graphics programming. About LM... It is not surprising that they went with ACES instead of Uncharted 2 - ACES tonemapper is industry standard, for a good reason, but it requires a good quality HDR input for output to look good. Prepar3D has been shifting towards physically based lighting equations more and more, which increases the "quality" of HDR input. Until the transition is complete, this workaround should be fine. Though even with a good quality HDR input, I still find ACES too hard and contrasty for flight simulators, but it really depends on artistic choices of the developer.

Unfortunately it appears this mod no longer will work in v5.2HF1. When you load it up after clearing the shaders folder, the screen just stays black. Restoring the default file fixes it. Shame.....

[B777ER 2,486]

10 hours ago, B777ER said:

Unfortunately it appears this mod no longer will work in v5.2HF1. When you load it up after clearing the shaders folder, the screen just stays black. Restoring the default file fixes it. Shame.....

Inputting just the code into the current file works as I just found out. Copy/pasting the whole file as is on the P3D forum does not work anymore. So we are good...

[ark 1,288]

5 hours ago, B777ER said:

Inputting just the code into the current file works as I just found out. Copy/pasting the whole file as is on the P3D forum does not work anymore. So we are good...

Yes, I used a text editor to update the original HDL.hlsl file with the mod float3 patch code, and it all works. How much difference it makes is a bit hard for me to tell without a side by side comparison although it 'seems' better.

Al

Edited July 4, 2021 by ark

[mikeymike 360]

Will this be addressed in next update ??

as I like flying the qw 787 EA on vol clouds off with ASCA which I like.

thou the dark cockpit is really annoying me.

cheers 

mike

[Samaritano 304]

@BiologicalNanobot Does this mod still work for the latest v5.3? Cockpits still too dark.

 

[CaptainIronside 52]

2 hours ago, Samaritano said:

@BiologicalNanobot Does this mod still work for the latest v5.3? Cockpits still too dark.

 

I'm using it currently with 5.3 and it seems to be working well.