Sky dome and cloud layer testing Probably more practical than domes with painted clouds
#1
Posted 19 February 2024 - 11:08 PM
I elected to experiment a little. I started with one of the FS2004 sky textures, mapped to a sphere in 3DS Max, and rendered into a suitable image, which yielded this:
Note the original texture inset at top left - MSFS uses a texture mapped from the side rather than the top, and it also has a special row of pixels which sets the lighting colour parameters for each sky texture. Note that, in MSFS, the sky is animated in that several different sky textures are used to correct for for time of day, latitude, season, and so on (no, you don't need a separate sky for each route and season if you design your simulation properly, ACES figured this out 20 years ago), hence the need for the texture to somehow indicate how the world should be lit with each sky texture. I also created a stratus layer based on the FS2004 stratus textures:
The end result in-sim looked something like this:
And the clouds looked like this:
The effect was quite satisfactory, but there was a major problem: technically, these aren't redistributable since they are Microsoft property, even though they're not likely to care. But, as a proof-of-concept, it indicated that a satisfactory sky can be made with the sky dome and cloud layers working in conjunction with each other. So, I started digging through all the photos I've taken of the sky and clouds over the years, including several sky photos taken from airplanes. I ended up with this:
Once again, the base texture used to create the dome is inset on the dome image, and not part of the actual texture as exported for use in Open Rails. This texture is a composite of several photos taken at ground level and in the air over the years, usually while taking pictures of locomotives or airliner wings in flight. Overall, I think I had around 7 or 8 sets of sky colour samples from my photos, and the final composite is 8 layers. The majority of the image is an average of several ground-level sky photos, with the upper portion of the sky being a portion of a photo taken from a flight I booked as an excuse to ride a DC-9. This was faded in with a layer mask to create a smooth gradient from the middle of the sky to the top. Several mid-level layers (also blended with layer masks) were added as well, plus a hand-painted layer with colours sampled from the FS2004 sky image because the ground-level photos had too much clutter (trees, buildings, et c.) obscuring the horizon, and the aerial photo was a tad dark there.
The stratus layer is a composite of several of my own photos, heavily edited to loop properly. There is a faint cirrus layer under the stratus layer to mime the effect of multiple cloud layers, although I think OR would benefit from having separate cloud layers. Optimally, it would have a low-level flat stratus layer, a high-level flat cirrus layer, and a middle layer filled with cumulus models generated with sprites at close distances and a wrap-around flat image at far distances, but this is what we have to work with for the present. Here are some shots of the end result.
SUMMER, 0700 HOURS.
1. Clear 2. Haze 3. Light stratus 4. Heavy stratus
#2
Posted 19 February 2024 - 11:12 PM
#3
Posted 19 February 2024 - 11:23 PM
If anyone is interested in the pre-release version of these sky, cloud, smoke, and light glow files, you can get them here: https://www.dropbox....22ei99b867&dl=0
PNG files go in the /content folder wherever your OR executables are located. The diesel smoke DDS goes in the /global/textures folder. I intend to place these files in the public domain once I can be bothered to write docs. If the OR team finds them useful, I also have absolutely no problem with them coming packaged with the executables. I plan on making some test cloud models (both flat and volumetric) at some point to see how simplified cloud models might look in this sky, but that's a project for another day.
#4
Posted 20 February 2024 - 05:44 AM
Absolutely gorgeous - and don't think I didn't notice all those beautifully strung wires (this should be a priority for ORTS).
Concur - as the 10Kx10K Painted Skydome maker - there has to be a better way. It takes me around (4) days to render a painted Skydome of this scale - and - it completely ties up my computer while rendering - you can't do anything else as it consumes all resources.
I'll take a look tonight when I get in.
Thanks for ALL your efforts.
;)
Regards,
Scott
#5
Posted 20 February 2024 - 06:59 AM
#6
Posted 20 February 2024 - 08:14 AM
ErickC, on 19 February 2024 - 11:23 PM, said:
I know some users have expressed displeasure with some of the default textures (the snow"flake" is a white circle...so I can't blame anyone for being frustrated) so there's definitely value in starting a discussion about replacing these. From a technical standpoint, it's pretty trivial to go into the source files and replace the images in order to create a build with different textures, the hard part is getting all the stakeholders to agree it can be done. Someone willing to provide the art is a good step 1 at least.
#7
Posted 20 February 2024 - 09:19 AM
#8
Posted 20 February 2024 - 11:34 AM
scottb613, on 20 February 2024 - 05:44 AM, said:
Absolutely gorgeous - and don't think I didn't notice all those beautifully strung wires (this should be a priority for ORTS).
I can't take credit for anything but the sky, clouds, smoke, and light glow - this is Rory's CN Blackfoot, stock except for the default replacement track shapes by Eric.
#9
Posted 20 February 2024 - 01:42 PM
#10
Posted 20 February 2024 - 06:54 PM
So how is it done?