Search the Community

Soon available

ORBX NA. Free sky textures + Photoshop (sun glow) + Photoshop (contrast)

Hello to all intending to edit sunset or sky textures You can do this on your own. But to be honest: You’ll spend a lot of time if you want to see reasonable results. I think a basic software for doing this nearly unlimited is Paint.NET – you can download it for free. Being in it you’ll have a lot of possibilities in editing sky textures. In fs9 they’re all 24 bit-textures and 32 x 32 pixels in size – so be sure to save them in the same format. The following is what I figured out by testing (so no guarantee – corrections or contributions are welcome!) Don’t forget to backup your existing files. How are they working, acting or blending together? First you’ll recognize that there’s a bundle of textures (fs9 texture folder) just for sunset: “sky_presunset1_0” to “sky_presunset1_9” “sky_presunset2_0” to “sky_presunset2_9” “sky_sunset_0” to “sky_sunset_9” “sky_postsunset1_0” to “sky_postsunset1_9” “sky_postsunset2_0” to “sky_postsunset2_9” That’s the sequence they seem to be applied in fs9 – “sky_presunset1” to “sky_postsunset2” for one sunset event, “sky_presunset1_0” to “sky_presunset1_9” for different months or sunset styles, same applies to “sky_presunset2_0” to “sky_presunset2_9” and so on… Each texture file number, e.g. “sky_presunset1_0” represents one month or two months or one sunset style and blends to “sky_presunset2_0” to “sky_sunset_0” to “sky_postsunset1_0” to “sky_postsunset2_0”. Unfortunately i didn't figure out which number refers to which month. There’s no need to occupy one sequence, e.g. “sky_sunset_0 to “sky_sunset_9” with one and the same textures (as you see it very often in available sunset textures). If you prefer only one sunset style just do that, if you prefer variation, occupy them with different textures (if you want to watch the results, put them in the fs9 texture folder, start fs9, switch to different months and adjust sunset times to get them). For testing purposes you may want to occupy them with one style (to be independently of the switched month and to be sure just to get the wanted test texture, also to test how the different season terrain textures are blending to your new sunset textures) and see how they’re working or blending together by adjusting different sunset times. Be aware that all of the very above mentioned texture files are needed to display sky textures generally. There’s no way just to put in e.g. “sky_presunset1_0”, “sky_presunset2_0”, “sky_sunset_0”, “sky_postsunset1_0” and “sky_postsunset2_0” for testing purposes, if so or if one file of the very above mentioned is missing, fs9 just displays white sky. Editing a texture file: When you watch a sky texture file in an editor, you may think that the image is too small – just enlarge it. After enlarging it you’ll think that the resolution is to coarse (32x32 pixels) but that’s enough for fs9 – even relatively hard transitions in colour and brightness from one pixel row to another or from pixel to another (as perceived in the editor) are blurring sufficiently in fs9 to get almost smooth transitions. Different pixel codes in a texture file (for reflections from ground, aircraft, clouds and water) At the very upper row of pixels you should see six pixels having different colours or tones – five pixels at the left (starting with the first pixel in that row) and one pixel at the right side (last pixel in that row). - First pixel (from left to right): colour and brightness applies to the reflective colour and power on more dark parts of terrain and aircraft - Second pixel: colour and brightness applies to the reflective colour and power on more bright parts of terrain and aircraft - Third pixel: colour and brightness applies to the reflective colour and power on more on more dark parts of clouds - Fourth pixel: colour and brightness applies to the reflective colour and power on more on more bright parts of clouds - Fifth pixel: colour and brightness applies to the reflective colour and power on more dark parts of water or water shadowing - Sixth pixel: colour and brightness applies to the reflective colour and power on more bright parts of water The colour and brightness of the lowest row of pixels is determining how the sky above the horizon is blending to terrain beyond the horizon. I think, to certain degree it also determines the reflective colour and power on terrain just beyond the horizon. To a certain degree this also applies to the second row of pixels from below. Whereas this also seems to determine how the upper part of atmosphere near the horizon blends to faraway clouds above the horizon. When giving the lowest two rows of pixels the same brightness and colour (just try a yellowish, reddish or orange coloured grey - concerning sunset colours) so that it fits to the appearance of your terrain textures, you’ll certainly get very smooth transitions between atmosphere and terrain at the horizon. Haven’t tested sunrise -, daytime – and night textures yet but I think they’ll work the same way.

What a simple lens flare/glow edit can do. If only FSX had better light rendering... Before: After: A much more realistic bloom which is a much better representation of the glow and over-exposure of the light from the sun seen in photos and videos at twilight, especially from a tail-cam feed.

Afterglow. All textures of the sky are copyrighted and are freely available. Have a nice evening!

Morning. Not a photoreal. Only real Coloring. Not real +photoshop day painting аgain day realistic colour +photoshop Thank you for watching. Successful flights!

Once again, just like my previous uploads, the only thing I've edited in is the lens flare. These are my own custom-made sky textures that I am constantly tweaking around to achieve the most realistic colours and gradients. I also use Mogwaisoft Shade for customised lighting (shadow/light/fog) colours.

Note: The glow of the airport terminals and apron was created post-capture.

The default Maule M7 260C looks fine. P3Dv4, ORBX NZ. Test new sky textures and PTA preset. ...and morning

Hi guys! I make a lot of screenshots of my textures to let you decide how they look and, perhaps, try them out. Forum rules don’t allow posting more than 20 images in one topic, so I will be creating topics with the same name, appending a number to it. This topic is continuation of the previous one. http://www.avsim.com/topic/499398-heaven-in-my-simulations-%D0%B5xperiments-with-sky-textures-and-pta2 Regards, Gennadiy Lotus L-39, ORBX New Zealand, Sky textures "AMBER_beta", PTA preset "Adam's PTA 2.0 Preset v20.09" by Adam (Adamski_NZ). Link to download the set https://www.dropbox.com/s/ir5cfrb7c7vp9ze/AMBER_beta.zip?dl=0

Showing off my custom made sky textures which I've worked hard on to reproduce the most realistic skies. It is important to note that this screenshot has not been edited in any way after the capture. I use custom tweaked Mogwaisoft Shade and also Reshade (instead of ENB) for bloom and colour/brightness adjustments which really enhance the overall visual depiction and complementing the sky textures, are essential for the realism.

Just a series of screenshots showcasing my sky textures that I have been working on and off for the past few weeks, meticulously editing the .bmp files to portray the most realistic skies for a more immersive and realistic FSX experience. I have finally reached a point where I am happy with the textures and will post more screenshots in the next few days. I am using Active Sky Next for weather generation, ORBX Global, Vector and Open LC Europe, as well as Aerosoft's German Landmarks and a combination of ORBX's and Aerosoft's Night Environment Germany for the night lighting. Importantly, I am using Mogwaisoft Shade and also Reshade (instead of ENB) for bloom and colour/brightness adjustments. Featured in these shots is the Cathay Pacific PMDG 777-300ER.

ORBX NZNI with excellent PTA presets by Yuri (KNOSSOS) and Adam (Adamsky_NZ) ORBX NZ, preset PTA "oriole" by Yuri , my sky textures "CANARY" + "sun glow" Set "ORIOLE" NZ North Island (Auckland City), preset PTA "adam_21-11" by Adam, sky textures "ORIOLE" + "sun glow" Thanks for viewing