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Gosh it takes a long time to get dark... (Read 1469 times)
Jul 17th, 2012 at 3:30pm

Flying Trucker   Offline
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Goodly afternoon all... Smiley

The old girl is on a boat tour of the 1000 Islands with several other old nattering nannies and cash from MY wallet/billfold... Cry

Got back a short time ago from helping some other Old Retired Rocking Chair Flying Geezers staining some lawn chairs and picnic tables at the Flying Club...man was it hot... Shocked    Smiley

Did a short one hour flight to get in some night touch and goes and like in real life flying I like to start at dusk, it is a  lot easier on the eyes as it slowly gets darker and you can familiarize yourself with the surrounding area.

Good idea is to have a safety aviator with you who is also current on Night Flying or even better still a Flying Instructor.

My night shots came out too dark and how many times do you really want to look at a lighted runway on approach?... Grin

FSX and Windows 7
REX 2
ORBX Scenery
Flight Simulator Water Configurator
Aircraft:   Socata Rallye 100 ST
               Available in Simviation Downloads
               Nice cockpit
               Fun to fly
Location:  Friday Harbour, Washington State, USA
Season:    Summer and Dusk

One of my many approachs during this simulated flight...Dusk
...

Climb Out...Dusk
...

A little bit of everything... Grin
Ok Stephane, bet I got way too much in this shot...right?
...

Going to do several No Flap Touch and Goes...Dusk
...


...

It can get dark any time now... Grin
...


Comments and Advice most welcome... Wink

Ok here is my analysis of my six shots and would like to see how I compare to what you folks think... Smiley

(1)  Focal Point should have been the runway so shot was
      taken too far back...

(2)  Perhaps a top shot with a little angle rather than a
      belly shot would have added a little sun glare...

(3)  Boring and too cluttered...

(4)  &  (5)...again very standard shots

(6)  This I think was my best shot so not sure how I could
       have improved on it...

It is difficult to fly the simulated flight and take good shots without pausing as that would take forever to complete the simulated flight.

I like to use the FSX program as an aid to keeping up on some of the profiles and techniques I use in real flying and I now fly with another aviator who is current or a Flight Instructor who want to hear my TALL TALES... Grin
 

Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug
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Reply #1 - Jul 17th, 2012 at 4:38pm

Daube   Offline
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Hi Doug,

Looks like a nice flight. If you like this kind of small VFR plane, I'd recommend you to give a try to Tim Conrad's Grumann AA-5B and Meyers 200D. They are both freeware, native FSX models, with very nice virtual cockpits. The Meyers is a bit faster so its flight model is more challenging (easy to stall if you don't maintain a certain speed), but the AA-5B is easy and pleasant.

Concerning your comments and your shots:
- Shot 1:
I don't think you were too far away. The only thing that would have made the shot better would have been to modify the camera angle to make it look more up, setting the plane in the bottom half of the picture, using the special camera "Tail". This would have removed the empty/useless ground that is currently shown in the lower part of your screenshot. The rest of the shot was good. You don't even need to set the plane aside or anything. Actually, a simple "crop" (cutting the picture, to remove the part which is below the plane) would be enough Smiley

- Shot 2:
These takeoff shots are a nightmare. Personnally, I always fail to find an interesting angle of view, one that gives a nice impression. Perhaps it might have been easier at lower altitude, but honnestly I don't know :/

- Shot 3:
"Boring" is vastly exagerated. Actually, the ground looks quite good, because it's not "empty" or blurry. The angle of view isn't bad either. You might get a better result by trying to shoot the plane from a closer position, to focus on it. This might reduce the "cluttered" impression that you got.

- Shot 4 and 5:
"Very standard"... Well, yes, they are, but that doesn't mean they are bad. Same remark as before: the background of your shot look good (very good, actually), and the colors are spectacular. Try to find a more impressive angle of view for your plane. Don't be afraid to show only a part of it, but show it nicely Wink

- Shot 6:
Very nice shot indeed. Colors are good, plane looks good, background is poetic. Nothing else to do there Smiley
 
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Reply #2 - Jul 17th, 2012 at 7:13pm

Flying Trucker   Offline
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Thanks Stephane...very much appreciated... Wink

Will also take a look at those two aircraft you mentioned... Smiley
 

Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug
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Reply #3 - Jul 18th, 2012 at 8:27am

Bass   Offline
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What is your settings on FSWC?
I play alot with it and i cant make up my mind. Your water looks also good.
 
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Reply #4 - Jul 18th, 2012 at 6:38pm

Flying Trucker   Offline
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Thanks for the comment "bass"... Smiley

I use Steve's Favourite...believe it is the last one on the list... Wink
 

Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug
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Reply #5 - Jul 19th, 2012 at 2:42am

U4EA   Offline
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All the shots are very nice in my opinion Doug.  Taking each one on its own merit and setting doesn't really leave to much too critique I think. 

And apparently I'm not the only one that likes Steve's Favourite on FSWC.  I have a couple of saved tweeks to it that I've found to work pretty well for late dusk and early dawn, but for the most part, Steve has it spot on.
 

I love the smell of radials in the morning!
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Reply #6 - Jul 19th, 2012 at 9:55am

Bass   Offline
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The reason why i ask is this

...

...

What is your setup inside fsx

After playing with hdeskytexturesfsx.zip i get those pics above on steves favourite

I'm going to delete those sky files and go on with the default or search inside 1hdev2-1.zip
 
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Reply #7 - Jul 19th, 2012 at 10:11am

Flying Trucker   Offline
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Thanks U4EA...much appreciated... Wink
 

Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug
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Reply #8 - Jul 19th, 2012 at 10:14am

Flying Trucker   Offline
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HMMM..."bass", you will need more help than I can give you.

Perhaps if you PM Daube he can give you some advice.

He is the one who gave me all the setting I use and I am thrilled about the way my simulated flights come out now.

Have fun and a great day bass... Wink
 

Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug
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Reply #9 - Jul 19th, 2012 at 10:32am

Bass   Offline
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Thats ok Trucker.
I'm certain Daube see this  Wink
 
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Reply #10 - Jul 19th, 2012 at 11:04am

Bass   Offline
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...

Well, after getting default skyes in and setting fsx water 2x med, it surely helps.
Dont trust every uploads!
 
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Reply #11 - Jul 19th, 2012 at 11:57am

Flying Trucker   Offline
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Looking better bass but I would still PM Daube to see if he can help... Wink
 

Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug
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Reply #12 - Jul 19th, 2012 at 6:53pm

Daube   Offline
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Hey guys, I'm there, sorry for the delay Tongue

Bass, what's your problem exactely ? You'd like to achieve the same level of extreme water reflection can be seen in Doug's screnshots ?

Appart from FSWC, are you currently using any other environmental addon like REX ?
 
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Reply #13 - Jul 20th, 2012 at 7:53am

Bass   Offline
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Hi Daube.
Well, i think i'm close by removing those sky files as mentioned, but what i dont understand is the poor white waters i get by installing hdeskytexturesfsx.zip!

Then i were playing with 1hdev2-1.zip sky texture, but now i got fatal errors starting up fsx! Its out again.

I got the 2 free REX grass and roads installed. Thats all.

See my problem. I would like to get my clouds/sky a little better than default, but maybe i need to stay as it gets.
 
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Reply #14 - Jul 20th, 2012 at 8:43am

Daube   Offline
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Your water in the Corsair screens looks good. The water reflects the sky, and your HDE sky has a realistic color, so the water simply reflects that color, nothing flashy to be extepected there.

If you want a more colorfull water, there are two things to do:
- first, you should set the time to dusk or dawn, in order to get nice sky colors
- in FSWC, you should set your water reflections so that it reflects more the sky, or so that is shows more the water color, depending on what you're trying to achieve.

For example, in Doug's screens:
- you have special REX water color
- you have special REX waves textures
- you have special REX sky color for dawn or dusk
- you have some settings from FSWC to define how the water reflectivity should be set.

In FSWC some of the presets are really producing some "mirror-style" waters. I would advise you to test them. If needed, also try to play around with the sliders nammed vertical and horizontal reflections, which will have a great influence on how the sky will be reflected next to you and in the distance.

Finally, from FSWC freeware downloads, I would advise you to download and install one of the DX9 HD waves textures, the first one is my favorite if I remember correctly.

From my side, I have chosen completely apposite settings in FSWC. I started from the preset "Ashton's favorite settings" to get a dark water, and with the waves textures and a few adjustments, it looks real good. Sometimes a bit too dark maybe, but I really don't like the flashy blue waters (excepted in carribean zones). As I fly mainly in OrbX NA and in Scandinavia, dark waters are just perfect.
 
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