Guide To Realistic Lighting & Post Processing

hewi12

Member
Hey All

So as of late, a few people have asked me how to create realistic lighting and how to use TANE's inbuilt post processing to create shots like this:

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Instead of replying to each one I'll put this thread here for everyone who wants to can use this as a resource.
Credit goes to TRam__ for the changes to the games shaders and tips on lighting, I highly recommend the thread he created on the topic: http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?120245-Shaders-tricks-and-tips

The thing that needs to be done is the activation of the dev tools via the TANE launcher ( Trainz Settings -> Dev -> Enable Advanced Debug Tools) this give you access to the games post processing settings that can be modified in-game.
Once the dev tools have been enabled the game & launcher will need to be restarted, after this is done you can load up the route of your choice.

Now once you are editing the route of your choice bring up the post processing setting,these can be found under the developer tab at the top of the TANE launcher, when the settings are open you need to change the mode to manual. This isn't an exact science so you can tinker around with the settings until you're happy with it, my settings are shown below:

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Once you are happy with the settings you can move onto the lighting, again this isn't exactly what you have to do but more of a base to build on. So the most important aspects of realistic lighting are; Dark shadows, bright sunlight and a realistic sunlight colour. The settings are in the order of (left to right), Morning - Midday - Afternoon:

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As said above, these settings are basses for anyone to build on so modify until you're happy with them.

And that's it!, I think I've rambled on enough for now so if you have any questions, feel free to ask them and I hope this all helps. :D

Regards
 
This is sound advice. This could possibly help alot of Trainzers who are bothered by the over saturation of color I have seen "discussed" in various threads.

I will give this a whirl and see if this softens the color blooms I occasionally see when i'm slapping together my "route of the day" whims.
 
Thanks for sharing your settings Hewi. Anything that makes my screenshots look better is very welcome. I'm a bit hesitant to play around with shaders due to the problem of breaking my install, but regularly play with the post processing settings.
Without touching the shaders, I tend to leave HDR tonemapping turned off and for convolution I tried settings of: Sharpen - Add - Threshold 0.000000 and Intensity 0.300000 and got acceptable results. Still adjusting these settings for best effect. I really like your sun colour settings, they make a real difference to the overall appearance.
cheers
Graeme
 
Yeah it doesn't really matter if the shaders are modified or not, any chance you could post a screenshot so I could see the results without modification?

Regards
 
Thanks hewi12, I've been a little hesitant in making any changes to the general display in T:ANE particularly when constructing layouts. However your tips are most beneficial and I can see how I can make good use of them in future.

I've been building a scene around Circular Quay in Sydney Harbour and just by following your guidance, I've made these screenshots.

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A little more refinement may give me better results.

I did notice that by increasing 'fog' levels actually detracted from any 'backdrops' that were installed. Fog and backgrounds don't work. I try and learn something new each day, so thanks again Hewi.
Cheers,
Roy3b3
 
@hewi12: These shots were taken in Surveyor, but I did notice that when I used Driver mode and maintained the same 'manual' settings, I was unable to change the 'time' from 10.00 to something later, it reverted to 00.00 and my display went to midnight. I wasn't able to change it back and had to exit Driver. Any thoughts?

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Cheers,
Roy3b3
 
Rob, would you be editing the time via quick-drive? Because I don't think you can edit a saved session while you're in driver mode.
 
thanks for posting this. Looks great even without modded shaders. sadly some assets like grazzy grass suffer pretty badly with these settings, and I'm not sure how to prevent that.
 
Yeah, I've noticed that it seems that way for most grass that is 2D, not really sure what causes it though.
 
Roy3b3,

I love your Sydney views.. Very good stuff.

Sydney is a beautiful place, but difficult to model because the major landmarks are so large. You have captured the look of it very well... great work!!
 
Roy3b3,

I love your Sydney views.. Very good stuff.

Sydney is a beautiful place, but difficult to model because the major landmarks are so large. You have captured the look of it very well... great work!!

Thanks Peter for the kind thoughts. I spent most of my working years in Sydney, catching ferries, commuting by train, driving taxis, getting stuck in traffic jams, so it's quite familiar to me.

I also like retirement in sunny Queensland overlooking the ocean. It gives me time to 'play trains'.

Cheers mate.
Roy
 
Thanks heaps for posting how to get to that! Dabbling in photography this makes me a happy man :) Lowering the "Base" value in SSAO produces some good results IMO.

Some screenshots, of course.

TS12


Not messing:


Messing:




 
Since this is about environment. I'll ask a question. How do you darken the screen for night? The other simulator has a very dark night while in TANE it always seems like a full moon.
 
Click the little green light at midnight (you can add more green light thingos at different times using the + button)

Click the top right colour (ambient lighting)
adjust the swatches to how you like them
Click in the main sky box (this is split into thirds)
do the same thing
Hopefully that came through ok lol

 
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