242
edits
Howto:Make nice screenshots: Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Replacing old screenshots with better ones and fixing some typos
(Rewrote and updated old page) |
Gsagostinho (talk | contribs) (Replacing old screenshots with better ones and fixing some typos) |
||
| Line 25: | Line 25: | ||
* Full effects | * Full effects | ||
This means you need a decent computer with middle - good specs. At a minimum, you should able to run Flightgear with smooth | This means you need a decent computer with middle - good specs. At a minimum, you should able to run Flightgear with smooth frame rate with high anti-aliasing settings. | ||
Some people don't have this, so there is another solution proposed by Melchior Franz : [http://www.opensubscriber.com/message/flightgear-devel@lists.sourceforge.net/8196594.html]. | Some people don't have this, so there is another solution proposed by Melchior Franz : [http://www.opensubscriber.com/message/flightgear-devel@lists.sourceforge.net/8196594.html]. | ||
== How to get some unusual/ interesting views == | == How to get some unusual/ interesting views == | ||
To get some ideas, it's a good idea to look for aircraft picture pages around the web like [http://www.airliners.net Airliners.net]. It will give you some ideas, and in addition, it is always a good idea to think about what you actually want to show case. While a snapshot of an airliner in mid flight is -for instance- a nice way of showing its latest features on the forum, it typically doesn't really last as an overall impressive screen shot. Placing the aircraft in a scene where some implied action is taking place will most of the time already make a huge difference. Capture the plane while it's banking, gear is retracting, etc. will imply some dynamic motion in your otherwise static image. In this respect, it may help to think of a little story, a scenario that you're | To get some ideas, it's a good idea to look for aircraft picture pages around the web like [http://www.airliners.net Airliners.net]. It will give you some ideas, and in addition, it is always a good idea to think about what you actually want to show case. While a snapshot of an airliner in mid flight is -for instance- a nice way of showing its latest features on the forum, it typically doesn't really last as an overall impressive screen shot. Placing the aircraft in a scene where some implied action is taking place will most of the time already make a huge difference. Capture the plane while it's banking, gear is retracting, etc. will imply some dynamic motion in your otherwise static image. In this respect, it may help to think of a little story, a scenario that you're re-enacting. Trying to capture a few key scenes from a flight may also help to make the difference between an average and an interesting screen shot. | ||
=== Air to Air === | === Air to Air === | ||
| Line 38: | Line 38: | ||
=== Ground to Air === | === Ground to Air === | ||
[[File: | [[File:Lugano-tower-on-mountain.jpg|thumb|270px|Setting the Tower on top of a mountain looking down to the airport with the [http://www.gidenstam.org/FlightGear/misc/place_tower.xml Place_Tower.xml]]] | ||
For this we use the Tower view and Tower View look from. This assumes that the virtual camera is on the Airport Tower, ca. 30ft above the airport level. You can choose via the Menu which airport is used. That's nice, but limited. | For this we use the Tower view and Tower View look from. This assumes that the virtual camera is on the Airport Tower, ca. 30ft above the airport level. You can choose via the Menu which airport is used. That's nice, but limited. | ||
| Line 45: | Line 45: | ||
You can find it [http://www.gidenstam.org/FlightGear/misc/place_tower.xml here]. Copy the code between the <code><PropertyList></code>-tags and put in somewhere in your <code>preferences.xml</code> . Now, when you ''Ctrl + left click'' somewhere on the ground, you can set the position of the tower view. The view is still about 30 feet above ground level; assuming you want to stand at eye-level, you can change the line | You can find it [http://www.gidenstam.org/FlightGear/misc/place_tower.xml here]. Copy the code between the <code><PropertyList></code>-tags and put in somewhere in your <code>preferences.xml</code> . Now, when you ''Ctrl + left click'' somewhere on the ground, you can set the position of the tower view. The view is still about 30 feet above ground level; assuming you want to stand at eye-level, you can change the line | ||
setprop(tower ~ "/altitude-ft", 30 + | setprop(tower ~ "/altitude-ft", 30 + M2FT * click_pos.alt()); | ||
to | to | ||
setprop(tower ~ "/altitude-ft", 6.5 + | setprop(tower ~ "/altitude-ft", 6.5 + M2FT * click_pos.alt()); | ||
=== Panorama === | === Panorama === | ||
[[File: | [[File:C172p-bodensee-panorama.jpg|thumb|600px|Panorama image stitched with 23 images inside the C172P cockpit while flying above Lake Constance (Bodensee)]] | ||
A [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panorama panorama] is a wide-angle view. With this, you can show large areas of the scenery or flightdecks. | A [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panorama panorama] is a wide-angle view. With this, you can show large areas of the scenery or flightdecks. | ||
| Line 58: | Line 58: | ||
For this, use the cockpit, passenger, or tower view, then position the virtual camera at the point you want. Pause the sim and pan the virtual camera all the way around, saving many screenshots so they cover the entire visible area. | For this, use the cockpit, passenger, or tower view, then position the virtual camera at the point you want. Pause the sim and pan the virtual camera all the way around, saving many screenshots so they cover the entire visible area. | ||
Now use your favourite panorama software and stitch it! | Now use your favourite panorama software and stitch it! | ||
No software yet? Use Google; there are several freeware | No software yet? Use Google; there are several freeware programs outside. A common choice is [http://hugin.sourceforge.net/ Hugin]; it's free and open source, cross-platform and used by many professional photographers. | ||
If you want to make full spherical panorama take a look at this [http://wiki.flightgear.org/index.php/Howto:_Make_full_spherical_panorama tutorial]. | If you want to make full spherical panorama take a look at this [http://wiki.flightgear.org/index.php/Howto:_Make_full_spherical_panorama tutorial]. | ||
== Field of View (FoV) == | == Field of View (FoV) == | ||
[[File: | [[File:C172p-wide-narrow.jpg|thumb|270px|The difference of wide/narrow angle. See how the background changes using a zoom.]] | ||
You can change this by pressing {{Key press|Shift|X}} or {{key press|X}} or using the Mouse-wheel in View-mode. | You can change this by pressing {{Key press|Shift|X}} or {{key press|X}} or using the Mouse-wheel in View-mode. | ||
| Line 73: | Line 73: | ||
== Lighting and Daytime == | == Lighting and Daytime == | ||
[[File: | [[File:C172p-water-shader.jpg|thumb|270px|Showing the effect of the low sun and the water shaders]] | ||
The most appealing photos in real life are made in the morning or evening. The light has a warm color and the shadows and ambient colors are soft and long which gives fantastic impressions. The noon gives hard shadows and strong contrasts, which are hard to deal with. | The most appealing photos in real life are made in the morning or evening. The light has a warm color and the shadows and ambient colors are soft and long which gives fantastic impressions. The noon gives hard shadows and strong contrasts, which are hard to deal with. | ||
| Line 80: | Line 80: | ||
== Weather == | == Weather == | ||
Our weather has improved much with the addition of [[advanced weather]]. To enable it, you must open the Environment > Weather | Our weather has improved much with the addition of [[advanced weather]]. To enable it, you must open the Environment > Weather dialogue, then check "Advanced Weather" and click "OK". With advanced weather enabled, clouds are placed while taking the terrain and wind patterns into account, making for much more realistic cloud and weather patterns. Advanced weather works best with [[atmospheric light scattering]] enabled as well. | ||
== Locations == | == Locations == | ||
| Line 88: | Line 88: | ||
== Colors and whitebalance == | == Colors and whitebalance == | ||
As in real life, in FGFS the pictures often have to be corrected in colors and | As in real life, in FGFS the pictures often have to be corrected in colors and white balance. This can be done with almost any image editor. In [http://www.gimp.org GIMP] this can be done through <tt>Layers > Colors > Brightness and contrast</tt>. | ||
== Conclusion == | == Conclusion == | ||