Cloud speed perception

[pilot12345678]

ADMIN NOTE: This topic has been split from the Real Weather Connector thread.

Let me begin by saying that I am a fan of skymaxx v3 and will buy the weather connector when it comes out too. My question is in reference to skymaxx v3 textures/renderings.

With xplane clouds or even hd clouds v2 the clouds, you get the feeling of how fast you are going.   Don't know if they change the movements of the cloud as you get closer.

The clouds in skymaxx don't give me that same effect even though they look great. Not sure if I explained myself properly but is anything changing in v3.1 that would change this? Can anything be done in the settings? 

 

 

[Sebas00]

29 minutes ago, pilot12345678 said:

Let me begin by saying that I am a fan of skymaxx v3 and will buy the weather connector when it comes out too. My question is in reference to skymaxx v3 textures/renderings.

With xplane clouds or even hd clouds v2 the clouds, you get the feeling of how fast you are going.   Don't know if they change the movements of the cloud as you get closer.

The clouds in skymaxx don't give me that same effect even though they look great. Not sure if I explained myself properly but is anything changing in v3.1 that would change this? Can anything be done in the settings? 

 

 

I've been following this thread since the beginning and I too love how the clouds looks in Skymaxx V3, however I must say that I never get the feeling of how fast i'm going even when flying through the clouds.  But with the default clouds or HD clouds you actually feel some sort of speed rush and cloud interaction.  

If it's something they can fix, I would rather they take their time to release the update instead of rushing it.

Edited February 5, 2016 by Sebas00

[mtaxp]

Default clouds has some sort of animation that textures go to the sides while you go through them , and gives this feeling of speed rather than breaking through walls.

I hope something like this can be achieved in SMP..

 

[Cameron]

Someone willing to show a video of what you're talking about?

[Sebas00]

18 minutes ago, Cameron said:

Someone willing to show a video of what you're talking about?

Try:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4R8O7mkrTM

@2.27min - you can feel clouds passing faster as it get closer to the to the clouds above.

@3.00min you feel that the plane is fast moving by the clouds

@3.10min you can see the interaction of the clouds as the plane keeps on climbing.

@6.50min as well

The video is long, however it kinds of illustrate what I'm talking about.  This was with HD Cloud from Sabbath

 

Edited February 5, 2016 by Sebas00

[Cameron]

Thanks...this is actually the first time I've seen people question or mention this, and while we'll note this request I can't make any promises.

I have to say some of the quick movement in this video wasn't true to what I feel I see when flying in real life, but maybe perception is different for others in flight simming.

[Sebas00]

1 minute ago, Cameron said:

Thanks...this is actually the first time I've seen people question or mention this, and while we'll note this request I can't make any promises.

No Problem Cameron, Keep the good work and I look forward to the weather connector.

[mtaxp]

Yeah it's not perfect but it gives a better feeling than SMP , this is actually one of the things I like about default clouds.

The other 2 things I like about them:

- How smooth the light on them changes in day time , I wish SMP lighning will change as smooth as the default clouds , anything about that for 3.1 ?

- The formations they create , well that what's real weather connector is about LOL

 

And maybe another little feature if I may request , default clouds doesn't have this but a weather plugin called XEnviro does ; Clouds bases above cities has an orange'ish color.

 

Anyway , keep the good work guys! 

 

[Cameron]

This is not a feature request or support thread, guys.

I've also gone through comparing videos of real flying to SkyMaxx Pro 3 and vs. the default cloud video you posted before with regards to "speed". I have to say I find the current SkyMaxx Pro 3 representation of this quite accurate, and believe some of the "speed" you see is actually X-Plane's camera system trying to rotate the billboards of clouds around the camera quickly. This is just not realistic at all, and in the posted video almost seemed like the clouds were in "fast forward!"

So, for the time being there are no intentions to change these items.

[pilot12345678]

45 minutes ago, Cameron said:

This is not a feature request or support thread, guys.

I've also gone through comparing videos of real flying to SkyMaxx Pro 3 and vs. the default cloud video you posted before with regards to "speed". I have to say I find the current SkyMaxx Pro 3 representation of this quite accurate, and believe some of the "speed" you see is actually X-Plane's camera system trying to rotate the billboards of clouds around the camera quickly. This is just not realistic at all, and in the posted video almost seemed like the clouds were in "fast forward!"

So, for the time being there are no intentions to change these items.

Cameron, I understand your stand on this.

Still, I want you to see the speed I had in mind.

Is this the same as the billboards rotating you were describing? 

It's in this video, at 30 minutes. 

Respectfully, 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c83LA3V8QRY

[Cameron]

@pilot12345678 Yes, that is the same as the billboards rotating as described. If you look closely you'll see the texture of the cloud rotate with the camera. While X-Plane 10 generates "puffs", these puffs still rotate with the camera to trick your eye.

The other big difference in these videos (and likely a lot of XP 10 default clouds) is they are very THIN clouds. No real depth to them, thus the lack of mass is giving a perception of quick in and out.

[pilot12345678]

1 minute ago, Cameron said:

@pilot12345678 Yes, that is the same as the billboards rotating as described. If you look closely you'll see the texture of the cloud rotate with the camera. While X-Plane 10 generates "puffs", these puffs still rotate with the camera to trick your eye.

The other big difference in these videos (and likely a lot of XP 10 default clouds) is they are very THIN clouds. No real depth to them, thus the lack of mass is giving a perception of quick in and out.

Thanks for reply. 

[MercuryMat]

Mmm...i asked this kind of question before release of smp 3 (i never received a reply...). The fact is that the xplane "trick" of rotating the puffs gives a good (not perfect) perception of speed, even if the clouds are "thin" (i can't see anything wrong with this). Sadly SMP does not give this perception, and if this could be ok for low speed flying, it is far to be perfect for liners or high speed flying.

My solution to this is not using smp anymore for liner flights.

I hope the v3.1 will solve or at least improve this effect.

[Cameron]

1 hour ago, Mad Mat said:

The fact is that the xplane "trick" of rotating the puffs gives a good (not perfect) perception of speed, even if the clouds are "thin" (i can't see anything wrong with this).

The perception of speed is simply a byproduct of billboards. That wasn't the intention Laminar had in mind.

There's nothing wrong with thin clouds. It just gives a perception of more speed.

We have no plans to make a bunch of changes here. Compared to the real world, we are close to on-point. I've had plenty of time in commercial airliners in the cockpit and do not find SkyMaxx Pro v3 far from reality in this regard. On the contrary, the video provided in a prior post is quite far from reality from anything I have ever experienced (and let me tell you, San Francisco is a pretty cloudy/foggy place on a regular basis in the real world).

[JeffLeh]

Cameron,

I am an AVID X-Aviation customer and always will be but I have to disagree with this post. As an avid pilot myself, I have to agree that HD 2.0 clouds/ X-Plane clouds are more realistic to real weather clouds than Skymaxx Pro clouds. Skymaxx cloud are beautiful no doubt but they seem to not move as much with real life winds and with the speed of the plane. Clouds at different levels and which way clouds are going vs. the speed of the plane are a big factor. Another realistic situation that X-Pane clouds have vs Skymaxx is how far the plane is from the clouds. As you get closer to the clouds they should move faster which Skymaxx does not seem change speed much or even at all. Skymaxx clouds stay pretty much constant with every level the plane is. With X-Plane clouds I see a huge difference. I have uploaded videos to show what I am taking about. I uploaded them in the next post.

[JeffLeh]

Added You tube videos below

Edited June 26, 2016 by JeffLeh
Added You tube videos below

[JeffLeh]

 

[JeffLeh]

 

[sundog]

I think maybe you are comparing SMP's cirrus clouds to default cumulus clouds? That's apples and oranges. SMP's cumulus clouds do move realistically relative to the plane.

[3saul]

I also have to agree with the perception of speed going through clouds in SMP 'feeling' slow. I guess it's a difficult one as I think you guys are trying to be as close to real from a mathematical or technical perspective. However my thought is that perception is reality. Just my two cents. 

[Cameron]

I also have to agree with the perception of speed going through clouds in SMP 'feeling' slow. I guess it's a difficult one as I think you guys are trying to be as close to real from a mathematical or technical perspective. However my thought is that perception is reality. Just my two cents. [emoji4]

Please be conscious of resurrecting quite old threads in the future.

[3saul]

40 minutes ago, Cameron said:

Please be conscious of resurrecting quite old threads in the future.

This is still relevant to me as a current customer and I was taking my time to let you know.

I am surprised by the response honestly.

 

[Cameron]

This is still relevant to me as a current customer and I was taking my time to let you know.

I am surprised by the response honestly.

 

I understand the relevance to you. This does not takeaway from the age of the thread.