[Release] SweetFX Vibrance Shader

[Livai]

Today I finished my new Vibrance Shader. I rewrite again and again the Shaders that they improve the Image Quality more than the original Vibrance Shader do and wanted to post here to see what others thing about these shaders that I made.

 

[Download]

http://freakshare.com/files/zbp79ha4/Viberance-Shader.rar.html

 

I wanted to test myself with BoS but I stll not get SweetFX to work with BoS thats why I cant post some nice screenshots

[Picchio]

Try turning off in-game AA and SweetFX should be working again, provided all of its files are in the right place. Then give us some before/after screenshots!

[Livai]

Try turning off in-game AA and SweetFX should be working again, provided all of its files are in the right place. Then give us some before/after screenshots!

 

Thanks, now it works. I did on mistake that I put all .dll inside the bin folder and that was wrong. I need to put to Data and bin folder to install sweetfx. I am happy SweetFX working.

 

And now for its time for the screenshots

 

[sCREENSHOTS]

 

 

[before]

 

[After]

 

 

[VBF-12_Stick-95]

hmmm...yes, I also see it as very over saturated.

 

Here's mine.  Left is Original, Right is tweaked.

 

[ram0506]

Wouw...  , that saturation is really a bit overdone, if you ask me. And blue seems to be your favourite colour? Maybe you can tune that a little bit.

VR-Sticks example is more balanced and looking more natural.

[Livai]

To my eye that looks extremely unnatural.

 

Is your monitor calibrated correctly?

 

The snow is pale blue and the sky goes from royal blue through pale green to yellow.

 

What effect are trying to acheive?

 

Now at the evening i see it better. My monitor is different calibrated 15% Saturate, 0% Brightness, 81% Contrast. At the evening I can better adjust. I made new Screenshot take a look below. I think much better.

 

 

Wouw...  , that saturation is really a bit overdone, if you ask me. And blue seems to be your favourite colour? Maybe you can tune that a little bit.

VR-Sticks example is more balanced and looking more natural.

 

Right at the evening I can finally adjust it right.

 

Take a closer look at this

 

[sCREENSHOTS]

 

 

[before]

[After]

 

 

 

Here are the Settings that I used:

 

#define New_VibranceShader

 

#define ColorVibrance     1.0

#define ColorSaturation   0.5

#define ColorPower        3.0

 

#define ColorShininess    3.4

#define ColorDepth        2.0

 

And you need to edit the Viberance Shader

 

Add this to the Shader [Vibrance.h]

 

#ifdef New_VibranceShader

 

    float color_saturation = min_color + max_color - min_color;

#else

 

    float color_saturation = max_color - min_color;

#endif

Edited July 2, 2014 by Superghostboy

[DD_Arthur]

What are you taking the screenies with?  My SweetFX never seems to show up on screenshots. Video is o.k. but screenies?....nada.

[BigPickle]

owch my eyes

[Georgio]

Sorry but to me the original looks better, certainly from a colour point of view.

All those over saturated colours remind me of the first colour TV sets where people would tweak the colour to full just to make the point that they had a colour TV and the Jones's next door didn't...^^

[Gambit21]

Yeah, not a fan.

[Livai]

What are you taking the screenies with?  My SweetFX never seems to show up on screenshots. Video is o.k. but screenies?....nada.

 

I made the sceenshots with Sweetfx. One time with enabled SweetFX and the next with disabled SweetFX pressing [PrtSc SysRq] or [Print].

 

[New Screenshots]

 

 

 

 

[Finkeren]

I like the bluer sky, but not really what it's doing to the planes.

 

I apprecciate the effort and thank you for sharing, but I propably won't be using it.

[Rivet]

Well, like others I reckon it's far too saturated for me but then everyone is different and may perceive colour differently and then there's monitor settings etc.

 

My settings tend to be very understated as I think the original is pretty good (personal taste of course). I just wanted a little less snow glare and a bit more definition in the sky around the horizon. I thought the original sky colour was very good so I didn't want to alter that too much.

 

 

 

The sky was the most difficult to keep looking natural (in my opinion). I think this still looks ok whilst giving the effect I was after in the area just above the horizon.

 

Sorry about the hud in the bottom left. I did this in a hurry

Edited July 3, 2014 by Rivet

[Livai]

I like the bluer sky, but not really what it's doing to the planes.

 

I apprecciate the effort and thank you for sharing, but I propably won't be using it.

 

The point is each person has a different taste and feels colors different and have different monitor calibrate settings. Means colors look different from person and monitor.

 

I wrote this shader code alone with no help and result what the shader made and can do I like more than the original Vibrance shader can do.

 

The point is that the shader is similar to a contrast shader but with more options. He founds color and saturate the color to max. You have a lot option to control and change the saturation effect how you like.

 

 

Well, like others I reckon it's far too saturated for me but then everyone is different and may perceive colour differently and then there's monitor settings etc.

 

My settings tend to be very understated as I think the original is pretty good (personal taste of course). I just wanted a little less snow glare and a bit more definition in the sky around the horizon. I thought the original sky colour was very good so I didn't want to alter that too much.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sky was the most difficult to keep looking natural (in my opinion). I think this still looks ok whilst giving the effect I was after in the area just above the horizon.

 

Sorry about the hud in the bottom left. I did this in a hurry

Maybe I can help to explain the options from the shader:

 

#define New_VibranceShader  ------> If it is enable better blue sky, stronger contrast ---> if it is disable very harder to found a good setting

 

#define ColorVibrance     -------> Saturate if you how higher than 1.0 but at 2.0 you can get blue snow

#define ColorSaturation   ------> Desaturate effect if it higher than [#define ColorVibrance]

#define ColorPower        -------> This add a depth color saturation effect

 

#define ColorShininess    -----> This here reduce Shininess and can improve white color. [Just play with them to see what it does]

#define ColorDepth        -------> Not really a color depth effect. It controls how depth or how bright the shadow is. [Just play with them to see what it does]

 

 

Can you tell me the weather time and if clouds are on or off that you used because I can do some comparison screenshots?

 

[NEW SCREENSHOTS]

 

 

 

 

Edited July 3, 2014 by Superghostboy

[Rivet]

The time was 16:30 and the weather was set to cloudy.

 

I would add that I'm using Flight FX 1.0

Edited July 3, 2014 by Rivet

[Livai]

The time was 16:30 and the weather was set to cloudy.

 

I would add that I'm using Flight FX 1.0

Thanks. My next screenshots would be at 16:30 and the weather set to cloudy.

 

I am optimize the shader now for better performance and faster rendering. Could be that I add more options to control the color better. After that is finished I post some screenshots and the new Shader.

[Livai]

Time: 16:30
Weather: Cloudy
 [Work in Progress]

 

[Picchio]

What's the point in producing and sharing these settings if they are going to look just too much drastically different from what you see on your own monitor?

Which monitor is it, by the way? And why on earth would you be setting it to 0% brightness and 81% contrast?

And can't you simply adjust and use vibrance and saturation (under tonemap) settings together, at the same time, to obtain the same effect? It's not like they affect performance, really, not on their own...

Also, you may find it useful to update your stuff to the latest SweetFX version, since many shader files have been updated from those used in FlightFX.

Edited July 3, 2014 by Picchio

[=VARP=Cygann]

I am just curious, is sky that blue in Russia during winter? 

 

It actually is here in Croatia, but our climate is mediterranean, means lots of sun, blue sea and blue sky with very little usually high clouds base on average. But when I imagine Russia over winter, I imagine short days with shy sun and colors much like original. Can anyone living in Russia comment which resembles reality more?

[Livai]

What's the point in producing and sharing these settings if they are going to look just too much drastically different from what you see on your own monitor?

Which monitor is it, by the way? And why on earth would you be setting it to 0% brightness and 81% contrast?

And can't you simply adjust and use vibrance and saturation (under tonemap) settings together, at the same time, to obtain the same effect? It's not like they affect performance, really, not on their own...

Also, you may find it useful to update your stuff to the latest SweetFX version, since many shader files have been updated from those used in FlightFX.

 

I am wrote this shader alone with no help. The next updated shader would be much better and have a better performance. I test my own made shaders with games and my bluray collections. If it looks good with both I am on the right way. The settings that comes together with the shader are a point of view to each person and monitor and to adjust how each like.

 

Now to my monitor its a Asus Mx299Q it replace my old one. I use the [Theater Mode] with own Settings. The monitor is heavy bright for me like my old one and my eyes hurts me but after set to 0% brightness its fine and its not dark still bright enough for me.. The same with the saturation need to be adjusted to the 0% brightness. Saturation to 15% is fine. The color themperature RGB is set to 100%. Contrast was 80% original if I remember right.

 

I do important work with adope photoshop and 3D Studio Max. I never notice that my monitor is not well calibrated.

 

Maybe you notice or not that the sweetfx_settings.txt comes only with Vibrance Settings thats why it is only 1kb heavy. You need to copy that what you found there or inside to your sweetfx or flightfx and update it manualy. I dont need to update because my selfmade shaders are everytime uptodate. I like to made own shaders where I need only one to get what I prefer.

 

Some maybe thing I can not notice different colors and I would do this with other games,too. No, thats not right. There are games where I would more desaturate or change nothing. CloD original and with Team Fusion Patch looks fine for me with no SweetFX, just for example.

 

 

 

[Livai]

I am just curious, is sky that blue in Russia during winter? 

 

It actually is here in Croatia, but our climate is mediterranean, means lots of sun, blue sea and blue sky with very little usually high clouds base on average. But when I imagine Russia over winter, I imagine short days with shy sun and colors much like original. Can anyone living in Russia comment which resembles reality more?

 

Interesting how would look the autumn map from Stalingrad with my shaders.

 

Only winter to adjust is difficult because when a autumn map comes out and you not known how the current settings would look at a autumn map and winter map together.

 

The snow never feels cold or the winter there.

[Livai]

Here are some very fresh Screenshots from my new Vibrance Shader that I am at the moment writeing.
 
The Screenshots are from the [New Shader] that I am writeing. I set the shader to max color to test the colors how well the Saturation work. This Shader is much more better if you want realistic colors.

 

Special with this [New Shader] is that now work all funktions from the Shader how they should and the Image Quality is much more better.

When it is finished I upload the [New Shader] here.
 
[NEW SCREENSHOTS WORK IN PROGRESS]

 

[Livai]

[NEW SCREENSHOTS WORK IN PROGRESS]

 

 

 

 

[ShamrockOneFive]

I am just curious, is sky that blue in Russia during winter? 

 

It actually is here in Croatia, but our climate is mediterranean, means lots of sun, blue sea and blue sky with very little usually high clouds base on average. But when I imagine Russia over winter, I imagine short days with shy sun and colors much like original. Can anyone living in Russia comment which resembles reality more?

I don't live in Russia but I do live in Canada in a climate zone similar (Dfa - Humid continental climate) to that of Stalingrad/Volgograd. Most of the winter is under cloudy grey skies and when the sun does pop out it's usually lower on the horizon so the sky isn't that brilliantly blue. We do get the odd days in February and March where we'll get a high pressure dominant system move into the area and the sun will be higher in the sky. Then we can get some brilliant blue sometimes made all the more brilliant by the contrast with the white snow.

 

Sweet FX looks interesting but oversaturated to me. It's an art choice and style so its not wrong but I think the developers default settings better capture the feel of the lighting and weather. It's cold, it's dark and its a little grey (and depressing). On the flipside... in the summer months here the colours are brilliant when it's not humid and smoggy. From the photos I've seen of modern day Volgograd... it does look remarkably similar.

[Praetor]

The original looks better in nearly every case here.  I'm wondering if you might actually be a bit colour blind and not be aware?

[Livai]

The original looks better in nearly every case here. I'm wondering if you might actually be a bit colour blind and not be aware?

A original light blue tinted snow from the devs is better. I see. Take a closer look at Original screenshot vs SweetFX post #25

 

Sweet FX looks interesting but oversaturated to me. It's an art choice and style so its not wrong but I think the developers default settings better capture the feel of the lighting and weather. It's cold, it's dark and its a little grey (and depressing). On the flipside... in the summer months here the colours are brilliant when it's not humid and smoggy. From the photos I've seen of modern day Volgograd... it does look remarkably similar.

I dont think that the devs have done his job right because they have made a light blue tinted snow and sometimes the Weather color has a little grey look. You can see it when you compare between Original and SweetFX screenshots. Not look how I do my settings because these should every do by his own how he like not I. 

 

I have not tested all weather and times yet with one settings. This would I made when I have more time and the shader is finished.

Edited July 6, 2014 by Superghostboy

[Livai]

Today I wanted to post some screenshot from my Contrast Shader.

 

And now who say again I see not good colors and the devs made his job right?

 

[NEW SCREENSHOTS WORK IN PROGRESS]

 

 

 

 

Edited July 7, 2014 by Superghostboy

[VBF-12_Stick-95]

Looking better IMO.  I like the way you are eliminating the gray and blues out of the white of the snow and clouds.  I haven't quite found how to do that with the standard Sweet FX.  In my post above (#5) the white on the plane are OK but the snow has a tint of blue.  Maybe it should appear this way at altitude, don't know.

 

Here is a ground shot of my settings.  Left Original, right Sweet FX

 

And a cockpit view.

Edited July 7, 2014 by VR-Stick

[Wind]

I dont think that the devs have done his job right because they have made a light blue tinted snow and sometimes the Weather color has a little grey look. You can see it when you compare between Original and SweetFX screenshots. Not look how I do my settings because these should every do by his own how he like not I. 

 

 

Nice to see people putting a effort in something they love. Respect for that. Will chime in some feedback, from my and only my perspective.

Just my 0.2€s, take em for what it is worth.

 

For my taste the original shots were quite harsh, way-way too much contrast and saturation. They looked way too cartoonish, like

someone would have had a broken monitor. The newest, especially the last post caps actually start to look much better, the sky

has much less cyan tinge than the original.

 

 

MID IMAGE OF POST #29

 

It is very close to being good, but on my 2 displays it starts close to showing a bit of magenta in the highlights. Very close though!

 

Personally think the developers have gotten the tone palette almost right, like very very close to the real life.

Have spent my whole life in snowy conditions, on different continents/altitudes/latitudes and have gotten accustomed to seeing

different shades of white...

And, all that time I have spent being behind the camera working and have been blessed with nearly "perfect" colour aquisition.

To get the tonal range "right" even in high end photography is next to impossible, let alone in gfx of computer games. The human

eye has just such a latitude and range that no camera+output can match it, especially if you go to the extreme conditions.

We as human beings have the ability to see enormous light/shadow differencies & color temperature differencies AND combine

a sensible picture out of it. But, if we would put that same information into a still/moving image, it will look like shit..and weird.

Trust me, have been doing that.

 

So the key thing in the games is to get us to see information that "we think is real", basically to fool us in various ways be it

dithers, shaders or whatnot. Sometimes the devs succeed, sometimes they fail. In BoS they seem to have pretty much nailed it.

 

What I wish is just a sliiiiight amount of more blue hue in the shadows. Shadow areas in the wintertime, on a cold bluebird day can

have like 10.000-15.000 kelvins in color temp due to the refracting light. It might be the engine limitations but it seems that the shadows

stay a bit too neutral. Well, at least to my tastes! :D

[Tab]

as it's the only alive sweetFX thread, I am going to hijack it:

 

do you still have to disable ingame Anti-Aliasing to get sweetFX to work? If yes, is there any AA in sweetFX and how does it look like compared to the in-game one? And what is its performance?

 

I am quite happy with the colour map of the game, but for my taste it has too little shadow/light contrast, which I would like to tweak a bit with sweetFX.

[DD_Arthur]

as it's the only alive sweetFX thread, I am going to hijack it:

 

do you still have to disable ingame Anti-Aliasing to get sweetFX to work? If yes, is there any AA in sweetFX and how does it look like compared to the in-game one? And what is its performance?

 

I am quite happy with the colour map of the game, but for my taste it has too little shadow/light contrast, which I would like to tweak a bit with sweetFX.

 

You still have to disable the ingame anti-aliasing to make SweetFX work.  This is not a problem as SweetFX uses an SMAA injector to give the same effect. On my system this gives better frame rates than using the 4 x aa that is available in game.  Also, SweetFX has a lumasharpening tool that also enhances the games appearance.

 

I have been using FlightFX to apply this and am using Fif's settings which work fine for me.  Check out Requiem's thread for his settings too.  FlightFX has the benefit of being able to manipulate SweetFX settings on the fly using sliders. However, it is not compatible with the latest version of SweetFX.

 

All this is purely subjective of course as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, etc, etc. so it's really a matter of whatever floats your boat.  I think its great.

 

  'Fraid I can't show you any picture as for some reason SweetFX does not show up screenies on my system.  Still not sure why but at least it works on videos.  I made this piece of silly-buggery a couple of months back - before we got a working prop damage model - for an ongoing bit of fun in the RoF forum called the 'Sport landing' thread.  I really like the enhancement of the colour range.  I use SweetFX in RoF and CLoD too. 

 

Edited July 7, 2014 by arthursmedley

[Tab]

looks great @, I hope it will work this time with my win 8.1 and radeon card (it didn't last time I checked 4 months ago)!

[Leaf]

Today I wanted to post some screenshot from my Contrast Shader.

 

 

 

The cockpit shot actually looks quite good to me; nice amount of contrast, but not excessive. 

I have to say though, I admire the determination -- you seem to be working really hard on these shaders.

[DD_Arthur]

PRINTSCRN saves a screenshot named ScreenshotXXXX.bmp in the directory you installed SweetFX to. This is separate to the standard in-game screenshots.

 

I guess you need to check the FlightFX documentation to check what key is used and where the screenshot is stored.

 

Aha...thanks m8.  I'll check it out tonight.

[Tab]

omg, it's so fun to play with and so hard to NOT overdo the sharpening and contrast :D

so here is my try:

 

 

Before

 

After:

 

 

 

Edited July 8, 2014 by Tab

[Feathered_IV]

That looks good Tab.

[Livai]

Thanks to all for your reply and comments

This Screenshot below are done with different Settings but I add the best one from them (I hope) to my Download.

 
 

[Release] Vibrance Enhanced Version

[Download]

http://freakshare.com/files/n7du77v6/Vibrance-Shader--Enhanced-Version-.rar.html

 

[screenshots]

 

 

[Livai]

Its time for

[screenshots]

 

Edited July 9, 2014 by Superghostboy

[Livai]

 

[Leaf]

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK, now that's much better. Less of a blue tinge and higher contrast. Nice.