Simviation Forum - Screaming along the South Rim, Part 3

Mar 20^th, 2012 at 4:41am

RSorochak Offline
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(My original post broken into parts)

Heading north out of the canyon:

Over Page, Arizona and the Glen Canyon Dam:

It wasn't until this flight that I fully realized that the Colorado river is dammed both above and below the Grand Canyon.

Hope you enjoyed them.

Rich

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Reply #1 - Mar 20^th, 2012 at 6:20am

Daube Offline
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I have never noticed the two dams either... I think I'll have to make a flight or two over there again. The OzX scenery is installed on my FSX if I remember correctly, but I rarely fly in this region...

I notice your distant scenery stays quite crisp... is this due to a powerfull system with ultra-high LOD_RADIUS value, or it is due to a wise usage of the zoom value ?

Got bloom ?
Got mountains ?
Got damage ?

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Reply #2 - Mar 20^th, 2012 at 8:44am

RSorochak Offline
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Well, it's not due to a high end computer. I built this about 5 years ago and, even then, it was not top of the line (Gigabyte EP45C-DS3R MoBo, 3.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, ATI Radeon HD 3800, 4 GB Ram, Win XP).

I usually fly with the LOD_RADIUS set to 5.5 or 6.5. But for screens, depending on the situation, I might bump it all the way to the top (9.0). As long as I'm not constantly jumping outside the cockpit that'll work fine. But, when taking screens, that will overload the card's memory after awhile. Sometimes sooner, sometimes later.

Rich

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Reply #3 - Mar 20^th, 2012 at 9:43am

scalper_old Offline
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scenery looks nice... Is it hard to create?

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Reply #4 - Mar 20^th, 2012 at 10:01am

Daube Offline
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RSorochak wrote on Mar 20^th, 2012 at 8:44am:

Well, it's not due to a high end computer. I built this about 5 years ago and, even then, it was not top of the line (Gigabyte EP45C-DS3R MoBo, 3.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, ATI Radeon HD 3800, 4 GB Ram, Win XP).

I usually fly with the LOD_RADIUS set to 5.5 or 6.5. But for screens, depending on the situation, I might bump it all the way to the top (9.0). As long as I'm not constantly jumping outside the cockpit that'll work fine. But, when taking screens, that will overload the card's memory after awhile. Sometimes sooner, sometimes later.

Rich

Ah, I see.
I have tried bumping the LOD_RADIUS to the max (9 I think) just once... and my computer hated it Grin

I got terrible stutters and a FSX crash to desktop after a minute or so...
Now I fly with 6.5, I found it was quite a nice balance between smoothness and distant details

Got bloom ?
Got mountains ?
Got damage ?

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Reply #5 - Mar 20^th, 2012 at 12:46pm

RSorochak Offline
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Posts: 356

scalper_old wrote on Mar 20^th, 2012 at 9:43am:

scenery looks nice... Is it hard to create?

Yes and no. If you want it to look like Tileproxy, then there are some fairly easy ways to do it. If you want it color corrected, sharp, and everything to fit properly, then it's a bit more work. For instance, in making the Niihau scenery, I spent many, many, many, many, far too many manhours just editing imagery to get rid of clouds, correct color, etc.

Daube wrote on Mar 20^th, 2012 at 10:01am:

Ah, I see.
I have tried bumping the LOD_RADIUS to the max (9 I think) just once... and my computer hated it Grin

I got terrible stutters and a FSX crash to desktop after a minute or so...
Now I fly with 6.5, I found it was quite a nice balance between smoothness and distant details

It all depends on the scenery and sky environments involved. The more autogen and cumulus clouds there are, the lower I have to set the LOD_RADIUS. What's possible over ORBX scenery, for instance, pales compared to what I can do over photoscenery. As you say, it's a matter of striking a balance between smoothness and details.

On that note, everything in the sim seems sharper while I'm flying than in the screenshot, anyway. While flying, everything is in motion and there's seldom time to sit and scrutinize the environment/scenery as you can in a single motionless capture. I'm always surprised and disappointed in the quality of the screen compared to the quality of the in-flight experience.

Rich

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Reply #6 - Mar 20^th, 2012 at 3:16pm

andy190 Offline
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Great shots. Wink

Intel Core i5-2310 CPU @ 2.90GHz, 6GB RAM, AMD Radeon HD 6450, Windows 7 Professional 64 bit, Logitech Extreme 3D Pro

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Reply #7 - Mar 21^st, 2012 at 4:51am

RSorochak Offline
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Andy, thanks! Hopefully I'll have an opportunity to fly again soon.

Rich

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Reply #8 - Mar 21^st, 2012 at 9:28am

G.K. Offline
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Nice shots, nice lighting. Cool

I don't think I've tweaked my LOD_RADIUS. I really must.

Gary

My Pics on flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34727332@N04/

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Reply #9 - Mar 21^st, 2012 at 1:56pm

RSorochak Offline
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G.K. wrote on Mar 21^st, 2012 at 9:28am:

Nice shots, nice lighting. Cool

I don't think I've tweaked my LOD_RADIUS. I really must.

First, glad you enjoyed them. Second, do try some tweaking. The highest FSX goes on it's own is 4.5 with 9.0 being the absolute highest. It makes a world of difference in how things looks, depending on where you can set it comfortably.

Rich

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Reply #10 - Mar 21^st, 2012 at 4:34pm

G.K. Offline
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RSorochak wrote on Mar 21^st, 2012 at 1:56pm:

G.K. wrote on Mar 21^st, 2012 at 9:28am:

Nice shots, nice lighting. Cool

I don't think I've tweaked my LOD_RADIUS. I really must.

First, glad you enjoyed them. Second, do try some tweaking. The highest FSX goes on it's own is 4.5 with 9.0 being the absolute highest. It makes a world of difference in how things looks, depending on where you can set it comfortably.

Rich

I shall give it a go although my machine is quite old:

Athlon 3000+
3 GB ram.
Geforce 7300 GT overclocked slightly.

I've done various other cfg tweaks and I'm reasonably confident I'm getting as good frames as I can get. I'll let you know how it goes.

Gary

My Pics on flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34727332@N04/

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Reply #11 - Mar 22^nd, 2012 at 6:18am

RSorochak Offline
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Posts: 356

G.K. wrote on Mar 21^st, 2012 at 4:34pm:

I shall give it a go although my machine is quite old:

Athlon 3000+
3 GB ram.
Geforce 7300 GT overclocked slightly.

I've done various other cfg tweaks and I'm reasonably confident I'm getting as good frames as I can get. I'll let you know how it goes.

I'll be interested in hearing how it goes.

Rich

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Reply #12 - Mar 22^nd, 2012 at 9:02am