How to make screenshots look GOOD?

[kaw4014]

I've been loking at screenshots by other people, and I have to say they look amazing. My screenshots look more cartoon-y and brighter. I don't know how to describe it. Where I'm at, I don't even know how to zoom. I've messed with the environmental settings, but I can never get them to look as good as some of the one's I've seen. I know that good screenshots come down to using good assets and good backgrounds, and I have both. I just can't get it the extra mile.

Here are two examples of "good looking" photo's. THIS SHOT WAS NOT TAKEN BY ME. IT WAS TAKEN BY: ShadyPlays2020

THIS SHOT WAS NOT TAKEN BY ME. IT WAS TAKEN BY: montanawestren

And here are two examples from me:

j

 

[DARTrider]

Okay, you first want to enable the function to be able to zoom in with Ctrl+Scroll in the controls settings. Then, in surveyor mode, click the icon where you'd find environment settings. Press a green dot on the clock and fiddle with the light settings, sky and more. Then, set up your shot and use the pause key to take pictures. If you have platinum edition, use the Drone camera for better viewing angles, or the Walk camera for a human perspective. Then, in your image editor, fiddle with saturation settings and whatnot. Have fun!

 

[G.M.]

Maybe another tip (your 2nd screen)


the default Region (when you build/start) a route
has very old, not very realistic cars, probably made to evade copyright issues
on the DLS (and many sites outside also) are kind Region assets and very nice cars
you can change Region in the Edit Route screen.

 

[Piere]

G'day Kaw4014,

The first thing I would suggest would be, as with real photography, try morning or afternoon lighting. Light around the middle of the day is harsh and bright and doesn't give the best results. The lower sun angles give better lighting for the subjects, even in Trainz, with default settings.

These are all straight out of the game, no adjustments or tweaking (the environmental settings are different for each, depending on what the original route creator set up)..

It might also be worth having a look at your shadow settings, but start with lower angle lighting and see what you think.

Cheers,
Piere.

 

[1611mac]

And if you use a NVIDIA GPU play with "Digital Vibrance" in the NVIDiA control panel settings. (as well as game and monitor color settings, etc)

 

[kaw4014]

Thanks for the tips! I found that if I brought FOV all the way down, it looks amazing.

 

[wreeder]

The easiest fix is to not use Chase mode to take the shots. Position your train where you want it and leave it there. Switch to Free Roam mode to compose the shot but when you are ready either switch to Walk mode or Drone mode to tweak the camera position and to take the shot. If you want smoke then back the train up a short distance and give it full throttle and when it reaches the perfect spot, hit the print screen button to take the screen shot.

 

[Piere]

If you want smoke then back the train up a short distance and give it full throttle and when it reaches the perfect spot, hit the print screen button to take the screen shot.

The easier option for this is to hit pause when it's in the position you want, then take all the shots you want from various positions.

Cheers,
Piere.

 

[FootplatePhil]

I enjoy taking screenshots, and sometimes submit screen shots from my route to the competition thread (without a lot of succes it has to be said ). One thing I am not sure about is how much editing (via an image editing program) I should apply. When does an image cease to be a screenshot, and become something else. I often apply a small amount of sharpening. I may also occasionally crop an image (though I prefer to just get the camera and 'zoom' right in Trainz before capturing the image). Should edited images be submitted as a 'screenshot'? Is there some degree of editing that is OK?

 

[fourteen]

been playing around with the setting also, mine seam to be missing something also.

 

[DARTrider]

Here is a shot taken with vanilla lighting settings with no editing. The surrounding area makes the shot nice as well.

 

[blueodessey]

Thank you folks for this excellent Photo information.......

Especially using the Dots on environmental settings.

 

[Toolman12345]

Okay, you first want to enable the function to be able to zoom in with Ctrl+Scroll in the controls settings. Then, in surveyor mode, click the icon where you'd find environment settings. Press a green dot on the clock and fiddle with the light settings, sky and more. Then, set up your shot and use the pause key to take pictures. If you have platinum edition, use the Drone camera for better viewing angles, or the Walk camera for a human perspective. Then, in your image editor, fiddle with saturation settings and whatnot. Have fun!

But using Pause leaves a great big PAUSED notification in the middle of the screen. Or is there a way to suppress that notification?
Tim

 

[DARTrider]

Press the F5 key to get rid of the interface, and when you're done press F5 again.

 

[Forester1]

Normally the word PAUSED does not show up in the screenshot. I have taken several that way.

 

[Toolman12345]

Press the F5 key to get rid of the interface, and when you're done press F5 again.

Thanks! I did not know that.
Tim

 

[Toolman12345]

Normally the word PAUSED does not show up in the screenshot. I have taken several that way.

You must be using a tool in the app for that. I always just press the PrtScr button on my keyboard, it's a very old habit.

 

[Forester1]

Prt Sc is all I ever use, but the "PAUSED" does not show up, nor does the instrumentation. Maybe a setting, but I don't see one.

 

[Piere]

As Forester1 mentioned, when I take the shots using the in-game screenshot function ("printscreen" on my set-up), no, the "paused" (or anything else on the screen) does not show up. All of those shots I posted previously were taken that way. No editing, no settings adjustments. Just "pause", move camera into position, "pintscreen" then uploaded to the Trainz Gallery via the in-game interface (usually a while after I've actually taken the shots).

Cheers,
Piere.