Hi All,

To further test the capabilities of the MSFS PBR material parameters, I chose Johns beautiful JYAI Lightning F1 model.
It provided the unique opportunity to have both " Bare Metal" and "Painted" Surfaces and what you are seeing has been
solely developed, from the Paint kit provided.
( Obviously, a little bit of further manipulation has been applied for the purpose of the PBR process. )













All of the above shots taken Just after delivery from the factory, Shots below are taken a few years later on down the line and depict a bit more wear and tear that has taken its toll !!







This has just been a test of skills and it is not envisaged that the Lightning will be entering active service.

It does look very successful, are you pleased with the outcome or is there something that wish was better?

That has has come up surprisingly well Pete considering how old the model and paint kit is. No Ambient Occlusion layer is in the paint kit so I guess you have had to create that yourself. I would say that the AO needs to be a bit stronger to get the shadows into the crevasses, such as the wing root and the belly tank. The overall appearance looks a tad clinical, even in the downstream shots, but that's easy to fix with further painting. It's certainly an improvement on the aircraft in FSX and P3D.

John

Some of our P3D conversions - all made by an non MAIW converter - are with PBR. They also look improved.

Yes, ( Steve ) the exercise has been a success. The primary objective being, to see if it was possible to bring the detail level of the Texturing from a previous generation Sim, right up to date using the current material properties available to us now.
Whilst we have already achieved a lot on this front already and have demonstrated this within MSFS, latest techniques discovered while working with " Bare Metal", will also be able to be used with regular painted surface Texturing.
This is achieved by manipulation of PBR which in MSFS is primarily achieved by the material properties of what we know as the COMP ( Metallic ) Texture.
The ability to increase the overall detail of the Texturing of the Ai Aircraft Model, will mean as John says, an older model conversion to MSFS could be viable if so wished.

Hopefully, you will be able to see the detail ( over exaggerated for demonstration purposes ) in these Lightning F6 shots -







In MSFS PBR, A/O or Ambient Occlusion is provide by the Red Channel of RGB. This can provide shading where necessary to the models surfaces to help emphasize or bring out further the PBR shading or lighting effects being generated on the fly. A good A/O Texture will further enhance the Texturing of the model.
If I get the time, I will look into being able to demonstrate what the Lightning would look like with better A/O.

@Martin ( gsnde ), I have no doubt that you have guys who are able to facilitate all of this for P3D, I just wish that we had a few more that had taken up the reigns for MSFS, because it is my belief that it is the way forward too.

Those pics look wonderful. the only question I have is regarding the tail fin. It looks painted but looks weird, a bit like the Firebirds one above.
Is that a knock on effect or just something that wasn't accounted for because you were working specifically on the natural metal finishing.

Steve,

Yes you are correct, I had inadvertently used the wrong Comp Texture on the F6 JYAI Lightning model in the shots.


Here's a couple of new shots with the correct Texture,





Demonstrating the full " Bare Metal " finish on the F6 has brought my experiment to an end.

Best regards,

Pete.

Last pic also could be an Aerosoft or Just Flight flyable...Great!

That is very pretty!

I particularly like the second hangar shot and the second of the two in flight shots. They really show the capabilities. We just need the retro MSFS scenery now to feature the aircraft.

John

Thanks for answering, Pete.
It did look a bit out of character with the quality of the rest of the scheme but I appreciate that sometimes it is the screenshot that alters the appearance.

.......and the painted F6 using the same Technique.






Regards,

Pete.

It looks good Pete, but would be even better if the Ambient Occlusion shadow was generated from the model with XNormal.

John

I love it when you two talk dirty.

Firebird wrote: ↑11 Nov 2023, 07:51 I love it when you two talk dirty.

....now,now boy's!!

John Young wrote: ↑11 Nov 2023, 06:46 It looks good Pete, but would be even better if the Ambient Occlusion shadow was generated from the model with XNormal.

I agree John and indeed this can be achieved.

Incidentally, there is a Binbrook for MSFS, although Asobo reallocated EGXB to a farm!?

Firebird wrote: ↑11 Nov 2023, 10:42 Incidentally, there is a Binbrook for MSFS, although Asobo reallocated EGXB to a farm!?

….I think realistically, we are now looking ahead to what MSFS2024 brings.

Presuming that we can get the AI Aircraft into the Sim, Wether it be natively or “piggybacking” using the AIG TC injector, we’ll then be able to see where we go from there.

I have to agree with John however. Our problem still remains not so much with the Aircraft as we have gained much knowledge already with this, it is “ fit for purpose “ Scenery, by that I mean Scenery that has been developed with AI Aircraft in mind, this being by far the greater problem in my view.

Traditionally, with the previous Flight Sim versions, MAIW has been known for its Military AI Aircraft Packages which includes Scenery for those Aircraft.
With this being such an undertaking now, perhaps we need to make a change as to what can be provided realistically in those Packages going forwards.

Best Regards,

Pete.

I notice that the airbrakes on all the Lightnings pictured show a slight deformation. Is there an issue with the polygons on that component that isn't apparent in FSX/P3D but which becomes obvious in MSFS?

I'd love to be able to do scenery for MSFS (20 or 24) but the learning curve is steep and the sim isn't easily adaptable to the more retro environment that would interest me.

I think that with the airfields that fit into the MAIW scenery add-on category are only going to be created once designers know that they can be used for their purpose.
Although not a designer myself I have at least a rudimentary grasp on the sort of work and time that go into such projects.

Much like AI aircraft for the sim nobody is going to put the effort in unless they know that the outcome is going to be worth it. Aircraft and scenery designers are both waiting for Asobo to set a usable system.

As Pete says MSFS24 is what everybody is hoping for and hopefully enough thought, planning and resources are in place for the AI system.
I feel that the biggest sign of optimism here is not user grumblings on forums like this, or even the voices of people like AIG but the fact that Asobo has stated its goal to offer real time Ai traffic. To provide this needs the system designed properly and that is what organisations such as ours can work with.

I just hope that it is available straight out of the box.