StormVR6 Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 I used to be a keen flight simmer, but what with children, work, etc, (you know how it is), I lost my dedicated PC room, and with it, my virtual flying. Many years later and here we are; things change, the dedicated PC area has returned and it was time to start flying again. I bought FSX just over two months ago and the plan was to make it as real as possible. As you guys know, out of the box, FSX is not very good at much at all, nor is it exactly an oil painting, so I had my work cut out. My approach to such things is probably the total opposite to most out there: basically, I get something looking, sounding and working how I want it, and then I spend time tweaking settings and files to actually get the bloody thing running smoothly. It may seem a ridiculous approach to some, but I like the challenge. So, after spending most of my spare time - and, of course, money - adding stuff, removing stuff, testing, tweaking, blah, blah, blah, I believe I've arrived at where I wanted to go. I use my own colour palette for lighting, shadows, fog and water, in an attempt to get visuals as spectacular as possible but always within the boundaries of realism. For that reason I do not use ENBSeries. I don't like the loss of sharpness it intrinsically gives (which is more noticeable the higher the monitor resolution) nor do I like the effect of viewing everything through a camera lens, i.e. overdone reaction lighting. My work is all done without the aid of post-processing effects, but I understand that some like over-the-top bloom, colours, etc. And that's fine, each to their own. I know these are not the most visually stunning shots but, like I said, I'm striving for realism, not exhibition. More importantly, and why I'm so pleased to be sharing this with you all, is how this all runs. Apart from the odd artifact and drop in frame rate at busy airports, the FSX you see here runs at a solid 30fps. That was the real challenge, not the graphics. Anyone can max all the settings, including bloom and ground shadows, for pretty screenshots, but I wanted maximum experience at smooth frame rates, not easy with FSX. Sorry to go on, but I'm very pleased with the results that have culminated from weeks of hard graft. Thanks also to all those that gave help and advice in various forums, including this one. And just in time for FTX ENGLAND! The release news made an Englishman even happier. It's a shame I can't show these at my native resolution, the massive compression has removed the sharp detail, but you get the idea. Images taken in Australia, New Zealand and the PNW. Some of you may even be able to work out where, exactly. Thank you and God bless you all. Bring on FTX ENG! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Emms Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 What a fine set these are. cheers Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockliffe Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 Superb set of screenies. You most certainly have accomplished what you set out to do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaydor Posted November 15, 2012 Share Posted November 15, 2012 Good on you for taking your time to get where you want to be. The resulting screenies view (speak) for themselves.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormVR6 Posted November 16, 2012 Author Share Posted November 16, 2012 Thank you for your kind words. What can't be seen here is motion, and for me, getting that visual/performance balance was extremely difficult, but worth the time and effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric C Posted November 16, 2012 Share Posted November 16, 2012 Incredible set, and I especially like the wing views! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lifejogger Posted November 16, 2012 Share Posted November 16, 2012 Super set of shots. I enjoyed looking at them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Splitpin Posted November 16, 2012 Share Posted November 16, 2012 Awesome work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammy H Posted November 16, 2012 Share Posted November 16, 2012 WOOOOW!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted November 16, 2012 Share Posted November 16, 2012 Excellent shots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lovell Posted November 16, 2012 Share Posted November 16, 2012 I share your views on fsx and how it should look. I guess we are all striving for ultimate realism in the end. Too much time can be taken on adding all these shade/enb effects but in the end, it can look much worse if over done.. too saturated. I really like how you have reached your sweetspot in these shots. I can see the very subtle colours make it more real for me. Very nice indeed and looking forward to your England shots to come... not long now eh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallard Posted November 16, 2012 Share Posted November 16, 2012 That's a fine set indeed! And I can fully understand your pleasure at reaching your favourite settings - after the reinstalling of my system I too got down to trying to "get it right" instead of just fiddeling around and cramming the programme with extra addons that were supposed to have changed everything for the better (but rarely did). Your results certainly do look as if you are ready to go in FTX ENG Cheers Mallard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taph Posted November 16, 2012 Share Posted November 16, 2012 very nice set of shots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonman Posted November 16, 2012 Share Posted November 16, 2012 Very nice shots indeed! And nr.4 is a real eyecandy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormVR6 Posted November 16, 2012 Author Share Posted November 16, 2012 Thank you all so much, your comments are like an honourable seal of approval! I share your views on fsx and how it should look. I guess we are all striving for ultimate realism in the end. Too much time can be taken on adding all these shade/enb effects but in the end, it can look much worse if over done.. too saturated. I really like how you have reached your sweetspot in these shots. I can see the very subtle colours make it more real for me. Very nice indeed and looking forward to your England shots to come... not long now eh! It's very easy to get caught up with post-processing effects - I've played around with the likes of ENBSeries myself over the years - and, to be fair, you can get some amazing results from such things. But over saturation, overexposure, etc, are all camera effects, and usually unwanted side effects. So while an exterior "camera" shot can look striking with high contrast, lens flare, vignette, etc, it's not how it would look if you were actually there. Anyone who has looked out of/from an aircraft (probably most, if not all, of us here) knows that real life scenery, through human eyes, is far less intense in terms of colour, brightness and contrast than most photos. Of course, nature can produce colour and beauty (praise God) far exceeding anything man can ever achieve; but from the air, the majority of stuff down below looks relatively bland. Sorry, I started to go on a bit there again, didn't I? I've a habit of doing that, sometimes I just can't shut up. See what I mean, there I go again........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Banks Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 Storm! I'm a bit late on this topic - ploughing through the backlog! Great to see the results of all your hard graft. I'm totally with you in terms of realism vs fancy effects. What water setting did you have in #2? It looks very realistic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StormVR6 Posted November 27, 2012 Author Share Posted November 27, 2012 Storm! I'm a bit late on this topic - ploughing through the backlog! Great to see the results of all your hard graft. I'm totally with you in terms of realism vs fancy effects. What water setting did you have in #2? It looks very realistic! It seem's I'm a bit late replying! Hope you're doing well, mate. I think it was REX Sparkling with my own settings created in FSWC. The trouble is, I've probably moved on about 20 revisions since then, so I'm not sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adambar Posted November 27, 2012 Share Posted November 27, 2012 Visually it looks like all your effort paid off for ya, your shots are stunning to say the least, Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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