some questions about SkyMaxx Pro

[xZone]

Hello everyone,

I purchased SMP 4.8.2 and I can say, i like it.

The clouds, sky colors, looks nice

But I saw some videos on YouTube with SMP 4.5 / 4.6 and they look awesome, too

Is there a way to download somewhere, the SMP 4.5 / 4.6 and use them ( testing ) with SMP 4.8.2 ?

Thank you

[sundog]

To my knowledge older versions are not available. But generally speaking, we add features more so than removing them. It's probably possible to recreate whatever you saw with 4.5 by configuring 4.8. The differences you see probably have more to do with configuration settings than with the version. I'd recommend reading through the SMP manual if you haven't already, so you can get a sense of which config settings will produce the effects you want.

Using the Real Weather Connector add-on also makes a big difference in how real-world weather is depicted with SMP. If the videos you saw were using RWC and you don't have that, it would also explain some differences.

[xZone]

What's the difference between ASXP + SMP vs Real Weather Connector + SMP ??

When I have the weather setting as " manually " the clouds transition is weird.

It's not too soft

Is there a way to change this ?

Thank you

And by the way : SMP looks way better than xEnviro / UWXP

[sundog]

Real Weather Connector "connects" SkyMaxxPro to some source of localized METAR data, allowing it to represent localized weather, cloud fronts you can fly into and out of, etc.

RWC can use X-Plane's built-in real world weather system for that purpose, and it will work fine.

Or, you can use a third party weather system replacement, such as FSGRW or ASXP instead, and configure RWC to use it as its weather source.

In short - for accurate real-world weather representation with localized effects, you need RWC with SMP. If you also want to replace X-Plane's built in weather system with ASXP, then RWC supports that as well.

When setting weather conditions manually, you are affecting all of the weather everywhere at once. Which is why transitioning between different settings in manual mode looks weird - it has to change all of the clouds around you immediately (which doesn't happen in nature), not just new weather conditions that have arisen as you fly into them.

Hope that makes sense.

[xZone]

Okay, sundog

Thank you very much

Question : will you improve / update the clouds / sky colors ?

Why don't you add a slider with some " amount of clouds /  size clouds "  ?

 

[Jakob Ludwig]

I would like to punch in here quickly @sundog.

I am comparing all combinations and find SMP+RWC+FSGRW by far the most convincing, but it looks that choosing different cloud types for cumulus or overcast has no effect for me, on that particular combo.

When FSGRW loads the weather, I am always experiencing a drop in frames for a few seconds and the new weather conditions are being rendered quite abrupt, despite RWC being set to never change the visual weather. 

SMP+RWC+ASXP is also fine, but the clouds base height is very far off in altitude. Sometimes a few thousand feet, regardless of refreshing the cloud options or switching settings in RWC back and forth. 

But all around it's the best weather plugin I have ever used.

Cheers

Jakob 

 

 

 

Edited August 10, 2019 by Jakob Ludwig

[sundog]

Feedback noted folks.

[xZone]

Is it possible to change the sky color without restart ?

[Jakob Ludwig]

9 hours ago, xZone said:

Is it possible to change the sky color without restart ?

Apply the new skycolor with the SkymaxxPro settings, than in the X-Plane menu open the Developer menu, select show sky color and hit the reload or apply button. That should reload the skycolors instantly. 

[xZone]

Thank you

[xZone]

Do you intend do add some volume to the clouds, for the next update ( s ) ?

 

[sundog]

21 hours ago, xZone said:

Do you intend do add some volume to the clouds, for the next update ( s ) ?

 

Our clouds are 3D objects that you can fly around and through. I think you're probably referencing the "volumetric clouds" that one of our competitors talks about a lot.

Our clouds are volumetric too, they just use a different, more efficient rendering technique that allows us to include more detail when you're close to the cloud. SkyMaxx Pro has actually has the same "volumetric" technique being used by our competitor (GPU ray-casting) under the hood, and it's been there since version 1. But we haven't exposed it to users because we aren't satisfied with its look or performance. It's our view that today's GPU's just aren't up to the task yet, but we'll enable them as soon as they are.

If you just don't want the cumulus clouds to look like they are made of textures, try selecting the "fast" option for cumulus clouds in the SkyMaxx Pro UI. This results in a more "volumetric" look.

Edited September 15, 2019 by sundog

[xZone]

Okay, thanks a million, sundog

One more question, please : can you tell me the exact location for the "fast" clouds ( for cumulus ) ??

I wish I could have the clouds, like here  ( starting from min 3.31 )

 

Edited September 15, 2019 by xZone

[alexcolka]

Hope video author could join forces, those clouds mods look very good.

[sundog]

@xZone you might want to refer to the SkyMaxx Pro manual; it details a ton of things you can customize to get the look you want. I'm attaching it for your convenience. The "fast" option is under Plugins / SKyMaxx Pro / Select Cumulus Textures.

SMP_Doc.pdf

[sundog]

8 hours ago, alexcolka said:

Hope video author could join forces, those clouds mods look very good.

He tweaked some of the cloud puff textures in SkyMaxx Pro 4.6. We made further improvements to them ourselves between then and the current version (4.8).

[alexcolka]

Good to know! thanks.

[xZone]

11 hours ago, sundog said:

@xZone you might want to refer to the SkyMaxx Pro manual; it details a ton of things you can customize to get the look you want. I'm attaching it for your convenience. The "fast" option is under Plugins / SKyMaxx Pro / Select Cumulus Textures.

SMP_Doc.pdf

I'd like to modify the .TGA files ( fast - cumulus ) with Photoshop

Do I need to keep the same size of the .TGA files, after I modify them ?

Thanks

Edited September 16, 2019 by xZone

[Cameron]

8 hours ago, xZone said:

I'd like to modify the .TGA files ( fast - cumulus ) with Photoshop

Do I need to keep the same size of the .TGA files, after I modify them ?

Thanks

We do not support doing this.

[xZone]

15 hours ago, Cameron said:

We do not support doing this.

I'm doing this, but I'd like to know about the modified file size

Thank you

[Cameron]

And I'm telling you we do not support the modifying of these files and will not give tips on doing so.

[xZone]

Okay Cameron, I understand

Thank you