Dynamic Shadows and Windows

[DMac10121]

Simmers,

I have something of a non-issue, albeit something that stands out greatly for me at least. It involves the dynamic shadows. Upon landing in the morning, it all seemed very wrong somehow. I'd been thinking similar earlier, but I managed to pick out exactly what it was that rendered the airport unrealistic-looking - the windows. In comparison to the rest of the terminal, they're very, very bright, and as someone who spots at the airport on a weekly basis, I can say that the terminal is never that dark compared to the windows. I see how the windows reflect the brightness of the sky, but the contrast stands out greatly to me. Otherwise absolutely love the scenery, but I was wondering if there was a way to darken the windows or disable the dynamic shadows (or any other solution).

Thanks for any and all advice,

-Derek

[virtuali]

It's not so easy as just saying "windows don't get shadowed", because that's not the case. Window DO get shadowed, but due to the how glass reflect light, they get shadows (or not) with a different angle compared to opaque materials.

And this, is simply not possible to do in FSX.

If we simply turned off dynamic shadows on glass surfaces, which is instead extremely easy to do, you would just shift the "unrealistic" complain to be happening at different time of the day or a different viewpoint, because at some angles they WILL be darkened by shadows, just not the same angles as the opaque materials, but they surely don't always stay bright.

As you can clearly see from this picture:

http://www.airliners.net/photo//1693955/L/&sid=6b8e3642fc19859ee2fce65f50d36208

In this particular light situation, glass and opaque materials under shadows are darkened just the same.

[DMac10121]

Thanks for the reply. That's just it, though. The windows are clearly darkened in the photo, but are they ever in the sim? They've always been bright for me

[DMac10121]

Perhaps what I notice is not necessarily that the windows are too bright, but rather that the rest of the effect of the shadows is too dark. It's really just the excessive contrast that makes it look, occasionally, as if the textures haven't fully loaded.

[virtuali]

Thanks for the reply. That's just it, though. The windows are clearly darkened in the photo, but are they ever in the sim? They've always been bright for me

I thought you were complaining about the opposite: that they get darkened in the sim, when they shouldn't. I understood it that way, because they ARE being darkened by shadows in the sim:

http://www.fsdreamteam.com/images_new/cyvr/sc5.jpg

[virtuali]

Perhaps what I notice is not necessarily that the windows are too bright, but rather that the rest of the effect of the shadows is too dark. It's really just the excessive contrast that makes it look, occasionally, as if the textures haven't fully loaded.

My real world picture clearly shows there's a very large difference between light and shadows, which are very dark.

[DMac10121]

http://www.fsdreamteam.com/images_new/cyvr/sc5.jpg[/img

That picture displays it quite well. The foreground windows are amazing - they look natural, and blend well with the terminal buildings. But note the international terminal check-in area windows. They're discoloured compared to the rest of the textures, and look oddly striped as a result of that. Does that make sense - I know it's strange but it does stand out to me. And again, love the scenery otherwise.

[virtuali]

But note the international terminal check-in area windows. They're discoloured compared to the rest of the textures, and look oddly striped as a result of that

They must use specular and reflective FSX materials, otherwise they won't look like glass at all, and that's the FSX shader in action, where we don't have any control on. Basically, your question doesn't really relates to dynamic shadows in the first place, but rather how realistically the FSX shaders reacts to the changing light.

The issue is, because the scenery is overall more realistic thanks to the dynamic shadows, you'll end up noticing more the remaining FSX limitations.

[DMac10121]

But note the international terminal check-in area windows. They're discoloured compared to the rest of the textures, and look oddly striped as a result of that

They must use specular and reflective FSX materials, otherwise they won't look like glass at all, and that's the FSX shader in action, where we don't have any control on. Basically, your question doesn't really relates to dynamic shadows in the first place, but rather how realistically the FSX shaders reacts to the changing light.

The issue is, because the scenery is overall more realistic thanks to the dynamic shadows, you'll end up noticing more the remaining FSX limitations.

Fair enough. Anyway, highly looking forward to getting KIAH, and whatever comes next for you guys