Bloom is not functioning

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Re: Bloom is not functioning

Postby FridayChild » Thu May 06, 2010 11:16 am

I've already double checked all these hints.

One by one:

In order to work, the bloom module absolutely needs DirectX9 to be completely up-to-date with the various updates from Microsoft.
And it is: I have installed the latest "refresh" runtimes, as I always do (I'm an update-freak!)  ;)

Also, the bloom will not work if the video card is too weak, or if it doesn't have enough video memory onboard,
As you can see from my signature, I have got a very strong video card with a current chipset and 1 GB of VRAM.  :)

or if the AntiAliasing is set too high.
It's set to 4x, a value which I believe almost all flight simmers use. :(

So the reason must be something else. It could be the CPU, but in this case the problem is probably not the fact that it's single core or that it's fairly slow, because it appears that other users were/are using the bloom with a similar CPU. Perhaps an Athlon64-only problem?
Please consider also that I was getting the exact same problem with my old video card, an NVidia 6600GT; nothing has changed when I changed the card, the bloom still turns my sim into a beautiful frozen screenshot.

But first of all, the version I was using is older than the one on SimV, I'll try that and keep you posted about the outcome.

Thanks
Last edited by FridayChild on Thu May 06, 2010 11:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Bloom is not functioning

Postby FridayChild » Thu May 06, 2010 11:35 am

Oop-la, I've tested and here I am again.
Soo.... the new version solved the problem!
Meaning that... NOW I HAVE NO BLOOM AT ALL  ;D
Exactly like the guy who started the thread. Default ini file, shift+f12 is not assigned to anything, directx up to date, powerful video card... and no bloom  :(
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Re: Bloom is not functioning

Postby Daube » Thu May 06, 2010 6:00 pm

Now this is really strange...
When you press SHIFT+F12, you don't see anything happening ? Not even a little screen flash or something like that ?
Also, how does the [EFFECT] section of the ini file looks like ? Can you confirm only the bloom parameter is set to 1 ?
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Re: Bloom is not functioning

Postby FridayChild » Fri May 07, 2010 1:47 am

Now this is really strange...
When you press SHIFT+F12, you don't see anything happening ? Not even a little screen flash or something like that ?
Also, how does the [EFFECT] section of the ini file looks like ? Can you confirm only the bloom parameter is set to 1 ?


When I press SHIFT+12, nothing happens at all.
The .INI file is the one packed in the download from Simviation: the bloom parameter and the shadow parameter are set to 1, the rest is set to 0. I'll paste the [EFFECT] section here for convenience:

[EFFECT]
EnableBloom=1
EnableOcclusion=0
EnableReflection=0
EnableMotionBlur=0
EnableWater=0
EnableShadow=1
DepthBias=50

EDIT: I've found Boris Vorontsov's ENBSeries website: http://enbdev.com/index_en.html
In the download section, I cannot find a specific Flight Simulator version of the filter (does this mean it was adapted to FS by someone else?), but in turn I can find *two* DLL files belonging to DirectX9: the first (d3dx9_26) is the one provided with the Simviation package, and then there's another one
Last edited by FridayChild on Fri May 07, 2010 6:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Bloom is not functioning

Postby FridayChild » Fri May 07, 2010 10:35 am

OK guys, now I'm REALLY confused.
I've searched this forum and found this thread...
It seems that the two files I mentioned before are simply *additional* files which must be present in the root folder *in case they aren't in the system folder alread*..
Then there is a DLL file which is supposed to be the actual effect file, and finally an INI file.
Am I correct?
Then... where's the DLL effect file in the SimV download? It's not there! There is one of the two DirectX DLL files instead...
:-? ::) :-?
If I am right and the SimV download is missing one or more files... which one of the files available for download from the ENBSeries web site is the one that is supposed to work in FS? The one for GTA San Andreas?
Last edited by FridayChild on Fri May 07, 2010 10:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Bloom is not functioning

Postby Rocket_Bird » Fri May 07, 2010 10:51 am

Its simply about dumping the two files into your FS folder.  To my knowledge, you don't have to put anything in the system folder, just your FS folder. 

The one I use is the one for GTA San Andreas, I believe, since there is a little red text that pops up every time I start FS that mentions "GTA San Andreas."  You can try this link also for downloading EMB: http://realenvironmentxtreme.com/forum/ ... ttach=1689
Cheers,
RB

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Re: Bloom is not functioning

Postby FridayChild » Fri May 07, 2010 11:21 am

OK... SOLVED!

Let's state some facts now:

FACT #1: the download on SimV (the one linked by ShaneG) is BROKEN. It does not contain the actual effect file, which is supposed to be called d3d9.dll and to be authored by mr. Vorontsov

FACT#2: there are many different d3d9.dll files around, and some of them have the same version number (1.0.0.1 for example) but they are NOT identical, and work in a different way (for example, one of the files I tried, downloaded from Vorontsov's site, had the effect of disabling all the textures)

FACT#3: as a matter of fact, at least in my case, the file provided by Rocket_Bird actually WORKS, the effect can be switched on with SHIFT+F12 and it has very little performance hit.

So THANK YOU VERY MUCH Rocket for your decisive help, and I hope this solves the problem for someone else too.
Last edited by FridayChild on Fri May 07, 2010 11:22 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Bloom is not functioning

Postby Rocket_Bird » Fri May 07, 2010 3:14 pm

I'm glad this worked for you :)  Happy flying!
Cheers,
RB

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Re: Bloom is not functioning

Postby Daube » Sat May 08, 2010 5:32 am

OK... SOLVED!

Let's state some facts now:

FACT #1: the download on SimV (the one linked by ShaneG) is BROKEN. It does not contain the actual effect file, which is supposed to be called d3d9.dll and to be authored by mr. Vorontsov

FACT#2: there are many different d3d9.dll files around, and some of them have the same version number (1.0.0.1 for example) but they are NOT identical, and work in a different way (for example, one of the files I tried, downloaded from Vorontsov's site, had the effect of disabling all the textures)

FACT#3: as a matter of fact, at least in my case, the file provided by Rocket_Bird actually WORKS, the effect can be switched on with SHIFT+F12 and it has very little performance hit.

So THANK YOU VERY MUCH Rocket for your decisive help, and I hope this solves the problem for someone else too.


Ah yes, that story about the incomplete archive at Simviation reminds me of something, now that you mention it...

Glad to see you could solve the problem. You guessed right, there are no FS-dedicated version of the bloom module, we use the one made for GTA San Andreas in fact.

So, how is it going, do you get some good visual effects now ?
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Re: Bloom is not functioning

Postby FridayChild » Sat May 08, 2010 10:22 am

Right now, I'm using the INI file Rocket_Bird gave me.
It's set to a very slight effect, very reasonable, I think it enhances the graphics and I haven't noticed a frame hit.
So, the only problem for me now is how to get rid of the horrible shimmering effect of the runways and the taxiways (see other thread).
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