On 4/8/2023 at 10:46 AM, bofhlusr said:

Incidentally, Envshade is one of the shaders you mentioned in a post as being easier to use. But it is payware. However, it is not that expensive and is now even on sale for less than U$6.00 at SimMarket. How does it compare with TomatoShade if all I want to do is simply make P3D look like your videos or pictures? Is it worth trying out?  Can it produce similar results as TomatoShade?

I do have Envshade, however I found it quite limiting and not up to the task of the sort of power configuration I was wanting to perform. Others may say differently, personal taste I guess, that said I was unable to achieve the sort of configuration I'm able to achieve with TomatoShade.

 

On 4/8/2023 at 10:46 AM, bofhlusr said:

P.S. Btw, separately, one of your YouTube videos show waves in an ORBX PNW scenery. I tried looking for the app that makes those waves but could not find it in Orbx. I also tried to install Banking Camera but gave up after struggling with the hard coded location for the default folder installation. I might re-visit these two apps again.

The waves are part of the Orbx NA Pacific Northwest Ferries, this entire package is freeware but supports P3D v4 only, this was due to GFX changes in v5 that introduced issues that LM apparently never resolved.

The waves themselves are a manual installation (as it you'll need to install and configure yourself). The waves can be used on P3D v5 with a little direct re-configuration of the fx files.

https://orbxdirect.com/product/pnwferries

Orbx have a reasonable number of freeware options available, and I do recommend grabbing them e.g. LWSK Skopje is a very nice airport which I'm amazed is a freebee.

 

Banking camera can be placed anywhere you like, I have it in "E:\FSX Addons\Banking Camera" (the path shows how long I've been using it), you just then need to set the correct path in the exe.xml

  <Launch.Addon>
    <!--
     Dynamically banks the view in line with the bank of the plane and provides for a more immersive feel.
    -->
    <Name>Banking Camera Plugin</Name>
    <Disabled>False</Disabled>
    <Path>E:\FSX Addons\Banking Camera\Banking Camera.exe</Path>
  </Launch.Addon>

The hardcoded part is the location of the "Banking Camera.ini" which needs to be C:\Windows\Banking Camera.ini

 

20 hours ago, bofhlusr said:

With regard to PBR. Does TomatoShade do anything with PBR? A post here is making me think that it enables PBR in older GPUs, but I'm not sure if I have that right.

I think the first thing is to understand what PBR is, the links below cover some basics.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/remote-rendering/overview/features/pbr-materials

https://www.a23d.co/blog/what-is-pbr/

So from a TomatoShade persepective the answer is Yes and No, yes a PBR workflow pipeline is generated for Enhanced Reflections, however my ini doesn't have Enhanced Reflections enabled so no.

In anycase PBR has to be supported by the application (and P3D 4.5 does support PBR) and the models in P3D need to have the required PBR textures, this is why the aircraft models need to be changed for Enhanced Reflections to function.

Taking the above it's not something you'll need to be concerned about in relation to your GFX card, as the card itself just has to render what is pumped to it, that being PBR based or not.

 

13 hours ago, Juliet Alpha said:

Yeah. Graphicaly speaking, v5 is broken: antialiasing, truesky... even "legacy mode" sky [facepalm].

Yes I totally agree... unfortunately.

I do have v5 and was hoping for it to be a great update, but testing and a list of pros and cons showed for myself it was just not worth the breakages it introduced and the lacking fundimentals .

I'm truely hoping v6 will be something worth updating to, either a fixed v5 or something new, given the amount of time that's passed.

I'm guessing it's going to be an evolution of v5 and I base this on a recent post I saw on the P3D forum where a fellow was asking about issues with his local P3D default airport. A P3D developer replied and said he'll look at it for the next release, which itself implies the default terrain and airports will be remaining the same. I'd link to the post unfortunately it appears to have disappeared, or at least I cannot find it again.

Cheers

 

Edited April 9, 20233 yr by Rogen

Great info. Thank you Rogen. I'll follow up on your tips. The waves in your PNW video look really realistic. I have to check them out (I have all of Orbx sceneries for the US West Coast and Canada). Will these waves work in any scenery?

My personal upgrade for P3D v4.5 was MSFS. Unfortunately, I'm running into issues and I'm also getting tired of waiting for business jets in MSFS.

Do you use Nvidia Inspector in P3D?  Apparently, the only way to get rid of shimmering in the plane panels in P3D is by setting "4x Sparse Grid Supersampling" in NVI which breaks MSFS for me. I can't even load MSFS since it results in a CTD. It is reproducible every time I attempt to run MSFS. Tomatoshade is a great alternative especially since I have a lot of sceneries for P3D. In a way, the screw-up in MSFS is a blessing in disguise. Your amazing videos led me to Tomatoshade and with your help I am now enjoying my new flightsim 🙂

2 hours ago, bofhlusr said:

Great info. Thank you Rogen. I'll follow up on your tips. The waves in your PNW video look really realistic. I have to check them out (I have all of Orbx sceneries for the US West Coast and Canada). Will these waves work in any scenery?

My personal upgrade for P3D v4.5 was MSFS. Unfortunately, I'm running into issues and I'm also getting tired of waiting for business jets in MSFS.

Do you use Nvidia Inspector in P3D?  Apparently, the only way to get rid of shimmering in the plane panels in P3D is by setting "4x Sparse Grid Supersampling" in NVI which breaks MSFS for me. I can't even load MSFS since it rests in a CTD. It is reproducible every time I attempt to run MSFS. Tomatoshade is a great alternative especially since I have a lot of sceneries for P3D. In a way, the screw-up in MSFS is a blessing in disguise. Your amazing videos led me to Tomatoshade and with your help I am now enjoying my new flightsim 🙂

I'm double checking my new flightsim. 🙂

Do the pictures below look like they have Tomatoshade installed properly?

Pictures show P3D v4.5+, Flysimware's Learjet 35A v4.3c with 3rd party avionics, REX Texture Direct with Soft Clouds Enhanced ED, Orbx's KHAF airport and Northern California scenery, and DrzewieckiDesignGrass installed.

EDIT: I'm getting about 27-30 FPS flying a right pattern (above the mountains) at the airport. I'm not sure about my Settings. I have 4x Sparse Grid Supersampling set in Nvidia Inspector which removes shimmering on the instrument panel. My CPU and GPU are not overclocked. I'm using a water cooler. See additional specs in my signature.
 

---

Edited April 10, 20233 yr by bofhlusr
Added details.

@bofhlusr, you have set a target fps in P3D settings. That is a big no-no. Set it to unlimited and either set your monitor to 30Hz if possible or set 1/2 via Nvidia Control Panel if you have a 60Hz monitor.

1 hour ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

@bofhlusr, you have set a target fps in P3D settings. That is a big no-no. Set it to unlimited and either set your monitor to 30Hz if possible or set 1/2 via Nvidia Control Panel if you have a 60Hz monitor.

Thank you, but unfortunately, my G-Sync monitor does not have 30Hz (see below). When I selected a custom setting of 30HZ my screen just turned dark and after a few seconds went back to the default setting of 144HZ.

The target 30 FPS is based on a comment which I probably misuderstood (also see below).

I'm going to try Unlimited again.  I guess you can say I'm a little confused about what the ideal target FPS should be.

---

__

I probably mis-understood this post?

3 minutes ago, bofhlusr said:

Thank you, but unfortunately, my G-Sync monitor does not have 30Hz (see below). When I selected a custom setting of 30HZ my screen just turned dark and after a few seconds went back to the default setting of 144HZ.

The target 30 FPS is based on a comment which I probably misuderstood (also see below).

I'm going to try Unlimited again.  I guess you can say I'm a little confused about what the ideal target FPS should be.
 

I’m going to have to defer to someone familiar with G-Sync as my monitor doesn’t have that feature.

But look at the Nvidia Settings on the left. There’s an option to setup GSync. That should help you achieve better performance.

 

3 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

I’m going to have to defer to someone familiar with G-Sync as my monitor doesn’t have that feature.

But look at the Nvidia Settings on the left. There’s an option to setup GSync. That should help you achieve better performance.

 

Not much to work with I'm afraid. I'm beginning to wonder if G-Sync was a waste of money. I think it cost an extra when I bought the monitor because it had G-Sync.

1 minute ago, bofhlusr said:

Not much to work with I'm afraid. I'm beginning to wonder if G-Sync was a waste of money. I think it cost an extra when I bought the monitor because it had G-Sync.

I agree it's not mjuch help but wait for someone who knows how to use it.

Since you have G-Sync, instead of setting 1/2 Refresh Rate, have you tried setting in NCP (or RTSS) any framerate limit you'd like?

4 hours ago, Luis Hernandez said:

Since you have G-Sync, instead of setting 1/2 Refresh Rate, have you tried setting in NCP (or RTSS) any framerate limit you'd like?

Yes, I think so?  Would this be it?

Btw, what is RTSS?


 

59 minutes ago, bofhlusr said:

Yes, I think so?  Would this be it?

Yes, that's the one. You did set your FPS correctly. Now, make sure Monitor Technology (under Max Frame Rate) is set as G-sync (or something similar), target frame rate in P3D to Unlimited, and VSync in P3D to off. With G-Sync, you won't need all that.

1 hour ago, bofhlusr said:

Btw, what is RTSS?

RivaTuner Statistics Server. Another method for limiting FPS externally.

31 minutes ago, Luis Hernandez said:

Yes, that's the one. You did set your FPS correctly. Now, make sure Monitor Technology (under Max Frame Rate) is set as G-sync (or something similar), target frame rate in P3D to Unlimited, and VSync in P3D to off. With G-Sync, you won't need all that.

RivaTuner Statistics Server. Another method for limiting FPS externally.

Thank you. I'll test to see what kind of effect those changes will have on my system (old).  I assume you have a G-Sync monitor too?

3 minutes ago, bofhlusr said:

I assume you have a G-Sync monitor too?

Almost: a FreeSync one, but NCP sees it as GSync compatible. The principle is the same, but I guess you'll get a smoother sim than mine.

17 hours ago, bofhlusr said:

I'm double checking my new flightsim. 🙂

Do the pictures below look like they have Tomatoshade installed properly?

Pictures show P3D v4.5+, Flysimware's Learjet 35A v4.3c with 3rd party avionics, REX Texture Direct with Soft Clouds Enhanced ED, Orbx's KHAF airport and Northern California scenery, and DrzewieckiDesignGrass installed.

EDIT: I'm getting about 27-30 FPS flying a right pattern (above the mountains) at the airport. I'm not sure about my Settings. I have 4x Sparse Grid Supersampling set in Nvidia Inspector which removes shimmering on the instrument panel. My CPU and GPU are not overclocked. I'm using a water cooler. See additional specs in my signature

Tomatoshade is a shader toolset where it either applies completely or not at all, and if you want to review changes a before and after process is what to use. i.e. screen pics or vid prior and same again post install.

Now that you've got the TomatoShade shaders installed and the manual edits in place you could make a copy of the ShadersHLSL named as ShadersHLSL.TomatoShade (for example). Then swap between either the backup defaults or the TomatoShade version (being sure to clear the shader cache when swapping).

When I was trialing changes I would take a screen shot, apply changes, clear the shader cache, take a screen shot - compare screen shots and then adjust, rinse and repeat until it was what I was after, as you might guess it's quite time consuming tuning these sort of things.

I do have the NVidia Inspector, but don't use SGSS as it is a huge GPU hog and requires a matched MSAA in P3D, I do have 2 x SS set though and 4 x SS in P3D. The DSR screen mode I use also applies an adjustable smoothing effect and ReShade has several options of alternate AA shaders, all this meaning I don't tend to see the VC shimmers.

What you'll need is to develop an understanding of the relationship of the various P3D settings and where they apply e.g. is the setting mostly going to use GPU ?

For example "Weather | Volumetric Fog" is GPU based, "World | Scenery Objects | Autogen and scenery draw distance" will use both CPU and GPU expotentialy as it is distance based radius starting at 6000 and going to 30000 in 6000 increments.

And when a radius is doubled the area encompasing quadruples, which in turn means requiring  4 x the processing power as compared the the non-doubled radius.

A GPU monitoring tool will help with gaining an understanding of the limits that apply to your particular GPU and what happens in P3D when those limits are hit. (typically the frame rate will drop below the 30 set in MCP).

Cheers

[SCENERY]
//AUTOGEN_DRAW_DISTANCE=6000.000000   // Low
//AUTOGEN_DRAW_DISTANCE=12000.000000  // Medium
//AUTOGEN_DRAW_DISTANCE=18000.000000  // High
//AUTOGEN_DRAW_DISTANCE=24000.000000  // Very High
//AUTOGEN_DRAW_DISTANCE=30000.000000  // Extremely High

@Rogen,
Nice tip about how to trial changes and compare before and after scenarios. Do TomatoShade files and features reside in only one folder? That is, if I wanted to completely uninstall TomatoShade all I have to do is delete the  ShadersHLSL folder in the P3D folder and the TomatoShade program folder?

I'm going to try 2 x SS and 4 X SS in P3D.

You mentioned DSR. Are you referring to Dynamic Super Resolution (DSR | Technology | GeForce (nvidia.com))?   It is described as "4K Display on a 1080 Display". Would that work for my display which is 2560 x 1440?

I tried it anyway by installing GeForce Experience, but the program state that it only optimized for two programs it found in my system: MSFS and VLC.
 

Edited April 11, 20233 yr by Ray Proudfoot
Long quoted post removed