FSAA (Anti-aliasing) and 'The Blue Line'.

[Guest jonpoint]

Dear All,To those of us who have to live with the dreaded 'blue line' when using FSAA (nVidia users and maybe some others?):Whilst editing the DC3 cockpit for my up-and-coming VH-ABR livery re-release, I came across an interesting point. This error is caused by the overlap (or lack of it) between the 3D screen region and the other panel rectangles. It isn't a line as such - if you look carefully, you'll notice that it's the outside view 'bleeding' through. I simply moved the bottom of the lowest rectangle down (using Cockpit Designer) until it was 1 pixel below the 3D rectangle - no line! Unfortunately, there's no simple fix for all planes, you have to edit each VFR and IFR panel, which may be more hassle than it's worth. Why it does this is obvious - the AA tries to average the colours in adjacent pixels to make them appear smoother. Even though you can't see the outside image normally (coz' its < 1 pixel), the AA does and it averages this with the surrounding pixels.My suggestion therefore is, to anyone contemplating a livery/cockpit upgrade (or a new plane) that you pay careful attention to this.Of course, then there's the 'sky banding' problem which I still haven't sorted out...Jon Point*************************(effyouthree@hotmail.com)*************************

[Christopher Low 5,352]

Jon,The sky banding is improved considerably by using Laurie Doering's weather upgrades. This seems to make even a clear sky more realistic, but I would advise around 25 per cent haze to make it look even better. Mind you, I'd also like a GeForce 4 to improve the FSAA quality, but I don't have a money tree............yet.Chris Low,ENGLAND.

[Guest jonpoint]

Thanks, Chris!I have been using Laurie's file for a while now - see my screenshots under "Look Ma, no dome!" in the forums. Haze is the key here - regardless of framerate, I always leave it on 25-35% for realism. Even without AA, a bit of haze makes the 'dancing ants' on the horizon disappear :-)Ditto on the GE4, I'm watching the prices like a hawk at the moment...Jon Point*************************(effyouthree@hotmail.com)*************************

[Christopher Low 5,352]

Jon,I'm currently trying to win one !Chris Low,ENGLAND.

[PeterR 9]

Jon,Yep, that's exactly what causes the line in FSAA mode. Unless you use the Cockpit Designer, you'll never discover it. As long as the top of the cockpit panel is straight you can simply remove the overlap. Otherwise, and curved parts below the 3D area will just not have scenery. It's not bad, actually.