3D

XsimReviews : 10.10b5 and all that Jazz

Posted by flightime56 on August 1, 2012
Posted in: 3D, New XP10 beta release, Xplane 10 talk. 11 comments

So another update in 10.10b5 and which way do we go? – Well forward of course.

10.10b3 was a bit of a dog, 10.10b4 was a step in the right direction – but 10.10b5 is certainly really quite to very good.

I feel at the very top end I have lost just a little of my framerate performance, not that much and finally you certainly don’t feel you are on a cliff anymore and that you are going to crash “out of memory” at any minute, and I would say it it is smooooth, really smooth.

But here is the good feeling

I have enlarged my numbers so you can see the frame rate 28.14 – In the Dash, and in the clouds?…. getta out of here!

(my computer specs are noted at the bottom of the post)

And like I mentioned it was all very smooth.

I am still having an issue with using the HDR “on” as well, simply brilliant at night – but I am still not convinced in the daytime.

HDR “off” is quite good

The gamma with HDR “on” is still very noticably far brighter and the aircraft is far more (very) jaggy around all areas, to which I would say it feels like a drop (stop down) in texture render settings – here it is set to “High”

I will note is this really cheating?…by going down a step in render texture settings to make it perform better with HDR “on” to match the HDR “off” frame rates… hummm, I wonder.

Close up with HDR “off” the detail is simply first-rate and this is in just in the standard “High” setting.

This is all with a speed busting 80 frames as well, the detail of the leading edge is simply perfect.

Yes I am running Mountain Lion so I will take that into the equation, but I feel that 10.10b5 is still a step forward.

The line between HDR “on” and “off” in some (many) areas is now very small so in many cases you can leave it switched on

A nice sunset image shows the great light and the reflection of colours on the x737′s wing, this image is with HDR “off” and with the “visibility” (weather) setting about half way, it all works so very nicely thank you.

Traffic and trains seems to be far smoother as well to which I will relate to the HDR tweaks, this is in Kansas (Setting) .

But the train signaling still needs a little work…

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“Quicklook” QL

The new feature in 10.105b is “Quicklook” QL for setting your views in a 3d cockpit.

And very good it is as well.

Press your usual “3d cockpit” (or 3d_cockpit_cmnd_look) view and then set your new view via your usual keys by Rotating left, right, up, and
down or Zoom in and out – then when you have the view you want just press “CONTROL” and a number on your keyboard (or Keypad) from 1 to 10.

Then go back and then press the same number and you are zoomed straight to that view.

It was great to set the view exactly where you want it, and then to come straight back to the same view on a single push of a button.

To get this view usually means a lot of scrolling around the Q400 cockpit.

The Overhead light switches were very hard to get to as well.

The great feature about all this is you are in control, you set the place you want and not what someone else thinks you want – and still then you can always scroll and adjust to right or left if you need to.

And if you like that view better then just save it (CONTROL-number) – simple as that.

Then you can get creative!

I always love the passenger view.

Settings are for that Aircraft and you have to start from scratch with any new file.

Drawbacks, I found a few.

If you have a key assigned to a number (key) then the assigned key over-rides the “view” save.

You can assign any key by using the keys “setup” in the “Buttons: Basic tab of the
Joystick & Equipment” menu window – which gives you more freedom of setting it up where you want them.

I questioned the differences between quick_look_0 and quick_look_0_mem.

And Chris (Serio) noted this :

“The “_mems” are the assignment keys. So they should almost always be the same as the quick_look keys but with a modifier. So by default 0-9 for quick_look and CONTROL+0-9 for _mems.”

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Remember there are two versions of view, you could say one is “inside” which is the 3d (Cockpit) and “Outside” which is the general views.

You toggle between them by using the 3d Cockpit view, once inside the 3d view you can move around inside the aircraft setting your different views, If you move outside the aircraft to take the same 3d views of the say the front of the Q400 or the x737 then that view will also be stored.

But I found that on some aircraft (Challenger 300) that you can’t move outside the boundaries of the 3d cockpit?, inside was fine…but there was no way I could move outside and probably related to the update in 10.05rc of “(ATTR_solid_wall now works again.) ”

On the Q400 I had no issues, so it will depend on what file you are using if you can move outside with every aircraft?

If you save a view with the general view it will save the view but in the “moving spot” position.

So if you turn then the camera will stay in the same place but it will note the new angle of the view.

Unlike the 3d views which go straight back to the same visual viewpoint.

All views are stored in a _prefs.txt in your aircraft folder and it looks like this.

I
10 version
_iql_view_type_1 v_3dc
_iql_pe_x_1 1.916732
_iql_pe_y_1 1.510194
_iql_pe_z_1 -10.113927
_iql_look_os_psi_1 141.532944
_iql_look_os_the_1 -1.333754
_iql_zoom_rat_1 1.000000
_iql_circ_psi_1 64.263763
_iql_circ_the_1 48.490284
_iql_circ_dis_1 31.117260

If you need to move it then just copy and paste the _pref.txt file to the new aircraft folder like in the instances of an update, say with the x737 and that way you don’t have to input them all again from scratch

Overall the new “Quicklook” feature is excellent, I love it, It is very easy to use and highly adjustable to use on the fly, but I will have to totally rearrange my key setup to make the best use of it.

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 Also noted in 10.10b5 is the changes to the manipulator that you use to twist knobs and tune equipment around the 3d cockpit. (mostly the Autopilot)

It is now a new pixel-based manipulator lets you define drags that work horizontally or vertically, with scaling. This manipulator is now intended to make knobs draggable.

This Item was brought to the table at Laminar by Javier Rollon. And mainly because the default B747-600 was so impossible to adjust in any direction, I find most working ideas in these manipulators work fine – but some are very distracting if your workload is high (say on landing).

The developer will have to update their products to take advantage of the feature so it won’t be noticeable until a few updates hit the shelves.

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I need to run a few very long simulations to really test the update, but my feeling is that we are getting close to dropping out of the beta stage soon, 10.10b5 is certainly very sturdy and smooth.

To note a feature that is coming soon in 10.10b6 is the “flashlight” that was noted yesterday by Tom Kyler.

Which proves the genius of X-Plane, come up with an idea and it is quickly a new feature – It will be great for those cold, dark mornings….brrr.

As they say around here “have a good one”

Flightime56

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Computer System:

- 2.66 Ghz Intel Core i5 iMac 27”

- 6 Gb 1067 Mhz DDR3

- ATI Radeon HD 4850 512mb

Software:

- Mac OS Mountain Lion 10.8

- X-Plane 10 Global

- ExtremeSceneryMAXX

 

Flightime56©2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oculus Rift

Posted by Simmo W on July 12, 2012
Posted in: 3D, future tech. 9 comments

Remember that name!

This link takes you to a fairly geeky 3D display forum that features an exciting new kickstarter project – but I’m not interested in the first 3D visor product, as it’s for hard-core enthusiasts. It’s the followup, more consumer oriented version that won’t be out till next year- I quote “Imagine a HMD with a massive field of view and more pixels than 1080p per eye, wireless PC link, built-in absolute head and hand/weapon/wand positioning, and native integration with some (if not all) of the major game engines, all for less than $1,000 USD. That can happen in 2013!”

Imagine that people! Holy 3d cockpits!

The current Rift is featured in this long interview with a rather enthusiastic John Carmack (very wealthy, very smart developer of DOOM and QUAKE, IE the brains behind idSoftware). His responses remind me of Austin if he’d had a speed/meth cocktail chaser after a Red Bull caffeine overdose! I love it when people are that enthusiastic.

Even this early prototype sounds revolutionary. A field of view of 90 degrees horizontal and woah, over 100 vertical! Smart software that ensures 60fps. A unique Pixel resolution whereby more pixels are in the centre of vision and fewer out in the periphery, mimicking the way we focus ourselves.

I’ve used the Sony HMD, its big failing is its field of view, being only 45 horizontally.  90 will be massive, will truly make our Sims immersive. Xplane with TrackIR is amazing. With such a HMD, it and many other Sims will be totally addictive.

 

XP+ Reviews + News : 16th Apr Edition : News + Liveries – QPAC A320 1.1 TACA – FJS Q400 Alaskan – B787 Thomson/Fly

Posted by flightime56 on April 16, 2012
Posted in: 3D, Liveries, News. 11 comments

XP News:

Our intrepid scenery designer John M D is slowly making his way through the London streets.

His latest work to be completed are the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.

Impressive they are too.

London Bridge is in there as well.

The Gerkin quite lonely out there in the flat landscape.

The London Eye is coming soon as well – Wish list:

Tower Bridge

St Pauls

Telecom Tower

British Museum and Nelson’s Column…

It will be very interesting once the new default Laminar urban areas fill in around these amazing Icons….and how John is pioneering a new way to quickly create visible cities by their icons.

Hong Kong, New York of course, Rome…It is a big world out there, But John shows it can be done.

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If you read Ben & Chris’s Developer blog XP Developer then this item was interesting enough to note.

As more 3d cockpits come into our world then our interaction with them becomes more of an issue.

The problem was escalated with the issues that surround mostly Javier’s default B744 and the impossible to grasp dials.

I once simply plowed down hard into the London Streets just trying to adjust the zoom on the map in this cockpit, and that is not all, because even if you wanted to do something quite simple as just go up to a high flight level then you could then be there ages just thumping and scrolling your mouser while still holding the aircraft steady with the left part of your brain.

Mostly all 3d cockpits struggle with the problem in one way or another. The problem stems from 3d space to screen space, on a 2d (flat) cockpit if you moved the mouser a little to the right and you would have a similar linear movement to the right on the screen, but in a 3d space it doesn’t take in the angle you are looking at either it being the switch or a button – so you could move it either a little or a lot in the same space.

(Einstein’s space-time and 3d cockpit continuum laminar theory).

The solution is to move by per pixel and not by space (equations), then that means simply that if you move your mouser a couple of pixels to the right then the numbers will change to that same amount, the same amount of movement per pixel will now work in the 3d space as well as no matter what angle you are looking at the with change of direction the speed still stays constant – so it will be the pixel movement on the screen that will soon do all the movement and not the amount of movement in the space of the cockpit…

How this will work in reality will be interesting – but anything has to be better than the current situation.

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Real Aviation News:

A supercomputer called “Sierra” at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories that was used to work on the Big Bang Theory will soon be used by GE (General Electric) to breakdown the various elements in fuel injectors for turbofan engines.

GE quote “”Fuel injectors sport an intricate design and geometry, work in extreme heat, and must handle punishing pressures, They’ve been notoriously difficult to test and build and understanding how air and fuel burn will help us to ultimately build more powerful engines that consume less fuel and have lower emissions”

This research is initially for the GE’s GE9X 90,000 – to 100,000lb-thrust class engine that is to be used to power the 777-8X/-9X family.

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The revamped Global 5000 and Global 6000 series from Bombardier have now gone into service with their new “Fusion” cockpit systems.

The cockpits feature four 38.4cm (15.1in) liquid crystal display screens and synthetic vision both on the head-down and head-up displays – The Global 5000 has a 5,200nm (9,630km) maximum range at Mach 0.85 while the Global 6000 can cruise for 6,000nm at the same speed.

This with Ben’s pixel plus animation will be very welcomed by any X-Plane enthusiast that loves the Challenger 300..bring it on.

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As for holding your head in your hands, then last week was a doozy, and in certainly if you lived in North Korea.

Most of the scientists involved either will now be shot or sent to prison – which is a great way to build a space program.

The flaw was uncovered early yesterday on CCTV cameras in the launch control room and it was noticed that Kim Jong-(young) un was seen to be pointing to a big red button as while in his left hand his Ice Cream melted and slipped quickly down into his shirt sleeve, In a cold panic he lost his balance and fell on the BIG RED button – and the rest is of course is now history.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Time for some paints…

TACA AIRLINES QPAC V1.1 – ELANPORT : TACA QPAC A320 1.1

TACA is the “brand” that is composed of a group of five independently IATA-coded and -owned Central American airlines, whose operations are combined to function as one and a number of other independently owned and IATA-coded.

TACA, originally an acronym of Transportes Aéreos Centroamericanos (Central American Air Transport), now stands for Transportes Aéreos del Continente Americano (Air Transport of the American Continent), reflecting its expansion to North, Central, South America and the Caribbean.

  • TACA International (TA) (El Salvador)
  • Aviateca (GU) (Guatemala)
  • Regional (GU) – Formerly Inter, it operates under Aviateca’s code.
  • Lacsa (LR) (Costa Rica)- Lacsa is the only airline of the group that still operates international flights with its own flight numbers. Its hub is at Juan Santamaría International Airport in San José, Costa Rica.
  • SANSA (Costa Rica) (RZ)
  • Isleña Airlines (WC) (Honduras)
  • Nicaragüense de Aviación (6Y) (Nicaragua)- Regional – La Costeña
  • TACA Perú (T0) (Peru) is now an important part of Grupo TACA.

In October 2009 it was announced that TACA would merge its assets in a strategic alliance with Colombian airline Avianca, in which case each will maintain their own trademark and operations. Avianca and TACA currently operate a combined fleet of 129 aircraft.

Elanport’s wares need no introduction on these pages and here he does not again disappoint us.

Detail is first-rate – The new 3d QPAC model is visually now outstanding and any livery will look excellent if done this well.

Still no _LIT’s but we are working to fix the problem.

Nice.

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A bit like those pesky groundhogs, you fill in one hole and another pops up out of another one…

so we have….Another FJS Dash Q400 livery.

This is made as even more as a confusion as it is with the state of the Alaskan Airline system at the moment, It is a guess as who is in Chapter 11 and who is not, Alaska Airlines became horizon’s saviour and so now Horizon is now shown in an Alaskan Airlines livery.

Alaska/Horizon Bombardier Q400 – cngdelta757 : FJS Q400 Alaskan/Horizion

The Inuit face on the tail is always going to look great on any aircraft.

And on the Dash with its upright tail it looks great.

In some areas the Alaskan livery looks dated now but still shines on the Q400.

The detail is very good but some of the writing over laps the doors.

But it is a very good livery to use in the very far north….

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Thomson Airways is the world’s largest charter airline, offering scheduled and charter flights from the UK to destinations across Europe, Africa, Asia and North America. The company commenced operations on 1 November 2008, following the merger and subsequent re-branding of Thomsonfly and First Choice Airways. It carried over 11 million passengers in 2011, making it the third-largest UK airline by total passengers, after EasyJet and British Airways.

Most scheduled flights operated by Thomson Airways are on behalf of tour operators. The airline offers a wide range of flights to holiday destinations at the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and the Indian Ocean from a total of 24 airports across the United Kingdom. Additionally, seasonal charter routes are also served.

Thomson Airways was the first European customer for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with TUI Travel PLC having placed an order for 13 aircraft of this type, 8 of which will go to Thomson Airways.

Thomson UK 787 Dreamliner – BenQuick : Thomson B787

As Thomson will be a real operator for the Dreamliner then this livery is one for the collection – In fact there is two liveries

The Standard:

And the Thomsonfly version.

The colouring is correct, but I have a small problem with the logo’s going over the windows…

It just looks pasted on over the top instead of being part of the aircraft.

otherwise it is fine.

The night textures are the same as the rest – dull.

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A small note about the introduction picture at the top of this edition.

It is the Qpac JQ A320 climbing at dawn out of Launceston in Tasmania…X-Plane just still always constantly amazes me – this was such a moment…so till next time FT56.

Flightime56©2012

Trying out the Sony HMZ-T1 3D ‘Visor’

Posted by Simmo W on March 19, 2012
Posted in: 3D, future tech. Leave a Comment

We thought we’d let you know I’ve taken Sony’s new Head Mounted Display (HMD) for a test this afternoon. I’ve heard mixed reports, mainly about comfort and not the visual quality.

Well I’m just on the way back to work from the demo. My recommendation? Well I’m not buying one. It makes me look even more like a Dork. Hehe. The real reason? The 3d effect is far too subtle. I could just make out the pixel grid in the OLED displays, many wouldn’t spot it, but I’m very fussy. The image to the very edge of each corner was out of focus. Focus changed as my head moved.

Surprisingly I found the fit and adjustments ok in the short term. The image did shake to an extent as I moved my head however, so I’d probably need to have the set surgically drilled into my cranium.

The image was nicely coloured, and it’s the equivalent of sitting in front of my 27 inch monitor. Don’t believe the marketing guff about it being like sitting in front of a 150 incher! More like sitting 30ft from a 150 incher. With noisy kids wearing afros in front of ya. An authentic ‘theatre’ experience. Oh well, I bet Sony’s second attempt will be majorly

The new SMD st1080 is due out very soon, however as this is only a startup company with very few real reports from users, I’ll wait for the glowing reports before joining their queue, pretty darned quick if needed. I have a feeling this little co. Might do very well! Their glasses are higher res, lighter and cheaper than the Sonys. They also have a superior exit pupil, making them more friendly for those of us with beer-bottle lens glasses.

3D on my pc, using simple Anaglyph  red/cyan glasses has blown me away, I use it wherever possible (alas, not compatible with Xplane), but I’m already noticing the massive discoloration of the image from using the glasses. Quite bearable to the extent that I ALWAYS use it, but the loss of colour graduation is annoying. So I’m investigating options (expensive, around $800!) like these. My home setup provides far more depth than the Sonys. Even with Granturismo 5, the Sony goggles didn’t show off the 3d that much.

The backup plan is a 27 inch Nvidia 3D Vision 2 compatible monitor, the Asus VG278H. It is reported as very bright and crisp, and clearly excellent for ‘gaming’. I’d been toying with getting a fatter conventional display, like 32-37 inch, putting up with the anaglyph, but have decided a crisper, natural colour 3D look is far more preferable. It’s really hard to describe, but looking at the 27 inch monitor with 3D activated, it appears huge. Must be something to to with the ‘looking through a window’ effect, where you stare into it, becoming more absorbed with the images.

This may still be the best solution currently.

Oh, I also tried out a 55 inch Sony TV, on sale at the same store (KDL55HX820). It used the active shutter glasses I’d previously tried a yr or two back and panned, having been very dark and with a fake 3d effect. THIS TELLY was the opposite, superb brightness and eye burning 3d, yet subtle. Sheesh, you could make out the subtle depth on Mia Wasikowska’s arms in Alice in Wonderland, the flowers in the fore and background. The mind boggles what the Miss Universe contest would look like. I digress….

Ooh, so tempting a purchase! If you get the chance to try one, go for it, as it’s a taste of what I see at home in MS Flight and other Sims. At under $2000 this set is a steal, and to think, in a yr or so similar tech will be in Walmarts at $1200 or so. Let’s just hope we can all stay in employment to enjoy such toys..

Sorry to rave on, but anyone who tries it will be impressed like me, it’ll change your experience of gaming/simming forever. Let us know if you ever take the plunge and make sure to report back!

S