Welcome to Stu’s Views, in this monthly article I will be exploring the effects of weather on screenshots and what weather gives a shot.

Second Topic: Weather

The second topic that I am going to explore is weather.  Weather can really add realism to our shots, and give the feel of the season (either cold or hot for example).  Also with the use of rain and snow you can generate the look of speed.

There is various ways to go about adding weather to your shots, but the trick is to make it look great.  Even by adding some user defined clouds or fog can really add to the shot.  To do this, pause the game hit ALT, select world then weather.  On the next screen select the radio button for user defined weather and hit customize weather.  You will then be presented with the following screen….



On this screen select advanced weather and then you can play around by adding layers of clouds and different types of clouds.  You can also adjust the heights of the layers to create some cool effects.  The screen looks like this….



Also just using the default weather, such as snow can give an extra something to your screenshots.

Now let’s have a look at some examples of shots from SimV:







Each of the above shots are all from previous winners of the screenshot competitions, so adding weather conditions to your shots could give you that edge in the competitions.  Note that in these shots they all have a good perspective( talked about in last article), when put together the two aspects create a masterpiece.

How do I know what weather is good?

Well its all down to your judgment.  The way I look at it is what does the shot feel like and does the weather match the area? (You don’t see much snow around the TNCM area now do we!)  The first thing you should have a play with is the user defined clouds screen.  Add some different types of cloud layers and see what you get, try different combinations.  Explore the screen, there is lots you can achieve from this screen.  Then move along to the visibility tab, and again see what affects you can obtain, in my eyes fog and low visibility is really effective.


Well after the examples it’s now time for some homework!!  Post some shots showing different weather conditions (in this thread).
**Please post your shot as a thumbnail, to avoid the 500kb thread limit, see here for instructions on thumbnails, if this is not adhered to then the Studio will clutter up again and I believe Clipper might set Shadow on you, gggrrrrr**

Great article Stuart, I'm sure many will benefit. Better do my "homework", teachers are always pestering me for it... 

OK, here's an example from me:

Here we see an easyJet 737 on final for EGGD on a summer's evening.



And, by reducing the visibility to 20 miles, adding a layer of Stratus clouds (5/8, about 4000ft to 8000ft) and a layer of Cumulus clouds (7/8, 8000ft to 16,000ft) and moderate rain, this is the result:



As you can see clouds add action. Instead of creating a peaceful atmosphere, a slightly cautious one is created - also on the approach I was banked slightly left giving the indication of moderate winds (there weren't any but the same effect would be found with crosswinds). Also rain helps to create drama by implying speed into an image. 

Come on people where are the other contenders, take a look at Charlies shot and see how much weather can improve your shots

Very nice clipper, i remember it was you who tought me how to use the advanced weather feature, thank you once again, it really helps to create a great shot.

I agree with you on the rain, i have not as yet been able to make it work to my liking

Another great example of using weather there, love everything about the last one Kevin, gives a great sense of danger IMHO