Anti-Aliasing Levels Correspond to What?

AMD Adaptive AA is equivalent to Nvidia Transparency AA (either transparency multisampling or transparency supersampling, not sure).


With AMD, set RF2's in-game/config AA to "none" then try the following:

Give 4x Supersampling a shot. In the AMD control panel AKA Catalyst Control Centre (CCC), keep everything default except setting AA to override application settings, 4x samples, and supersampling mode.

If that lowers performance too much then lower in-game settings (shadow blur fast instead of quality, circuit detail high instead of full,s hadows high instead of full, maybe change car reflections if you dont notice a difference, and definitely use 8xAF instead of 16xAF).

If that still has too low framerates, switch the AA sample amount to 2x (instead of 4x), keep everything else the same, and try again.

 

I already use 4x supersampling. And at 1920x1200 the R9 cannot produce sufficient frame rates at the "heavy" tracks or with the poorly LODded cars (like the NSX).

I am always looking for some combination that is not as resource intensive, but that still looks good. Any medium to higher setting with plain old multisampling looks fine--except for the flickering shadows. I know of no way of getting rid of those other than supersampling. And for me personally, they destroy the immersion of the sim by making the whole world look like a digital low-rent video game.

While trying various other settings, I noticed the issue in my original post. Some documentation would be helpful to figure it out. It isn't straightforward. There are combinations of settings also that I haven't even tried (the "enhance" rather than "override" approach).

Some year we might see shadows addressed (the flickering is far from the only issue). Then, none of this will matter because the normal 8 settings in the sim will be sufficient.

 

http://www.tested.com/tech/pcs/1194-how-to-choose-the-right-anti-aliasing-mode-for-your-gpu/

As already stated, they come from the driver and perform in ways related to the driver and whichever setting you have chosen.

In some cases it seems people are assigning other issues to this, though I can't understand why that would be beneficial to a discussion.

 

Thanks for the clarification. The only useful info then is that at least for some AMD cards these levels are certainly not additive in terms of the performance hit. For example, Level 1, 2 and 4 may have almost the same performance. Level 3, 5 and 7 also. And then 6 and 8.

Any chance the shadows are going to get a re-work soon? Shadow flickering and low-res shadows in some areas and with some settings is the only remaining reason I can see for the use of supersampling. Everything else looks great with normal multisampling and your choice of in-sim AA Level.

 

Depends what kind of flickering you're talking about. In some cases it'll depend on how much time accel you're using. Try setting that to none to see if it is related to the staging of the sun position.

Older content might need to be updated.

Can you make a video clip specifically showing which issue you mean?

 

I never use time acceleration. And the "flickering" may actually be closer to shimmering (it's not the same issue as for example the common advertising banners flickering because two surfaces are too close together). All shadows at all tracks flicker/shimmer until you get close to them. I think it's the same distance away as that delineation line that appears along walls or armco in front of your car...but it may be unrelated? Monaco front straight looks like a shimmering and flickering mess if the time of day is casting shadows from all the trees. But the same applies to Portugal. The overhead sign structures cast shadows that do the same thing. Another common bad spot is the shadows under the cars in the garages--all flickering off into the distance as you drive down the pit lane. Instant cure--just use supersampling. No need to touch any other settings.

I'm sure most people just accept it, but you know I am a stickler for getting rid of jaggies and other immersion-killing digital artifacts. It's great that only a few older tracks with improper transparency issues (but including the pit lane at Sao Paulo) still have either fuzzy edges or ugly jaggies after the updates of the past year or so. It's like the flickering trees at Portugal (all along left side of pit straight)--I thought maybe I was the only one who had them, but no, when others actually looked they had them, too. For some reason my eyes/brain pick-up these things more than others (or it just bothers me more). If you have no flickering and you're not using SGSS or SS, then maybe the problem is solved on NVIDIA. The issue didn't change for me when I switched to AMD a year ago--it's been there since rF1. Of course you can use SS on rF1 and still get 150 FPS with a decent video card. SS on rF2 drops things quite regularly below the 60 FPS threshold if you have most settings at max.

I'll see about a video, but I don't use any screen capture technology. Others have posted here before...I'll also see if I can find a link to a simple example. A simpler way to see the issue is just to park under a shadow--say the overhead sign post at the end of the main pit area at Portugal. Use bonnet cam. Back-up slowly away from the shadow. At some point, it changes from solid-looking to shimmering. In the early days, the shimmering occurred even while you were right in the shadow--you would see the movement of the shadows on the dash/in the cockpit. That has been cured for a while, but for me at about 2 to 4 car lengths back, the shadows lose their integrity and start to shimmer/flicker. Everywhere/all shadows, so I don't think it is track-specific.

 

I don't mean time accel as in ctrl x, I mean the speed a day takes. If you set to x60 or whatever. The shimmer I actually see in everything with a transitioning day/night cycle, if we're talking about the same thing. GTAV on XBOX1 even...

Please do supply a vid, it'll help as although I am sure we have discussed it before, everyone has a different word for the same/different things.

 

I don't use any multiplier for speed of day (or anything else for that matter).

Assuming YouTube hasn't compressed this, you should see me sitting at the end of the Portugal 2.0 pits. I am using Level 8 with Adaptive Multisampling, though regular Multisampling is identical. You should see flickering in the trees off to the left of the main straight, but the main area of focus is the shadow under the overhead sign gantry.

It is shimmering even when I am just parked there and as I approach it continues to shimmer until I am right on top of it almost, when it solidifies. You can see as I approach and back off that at certain points part of it is solid and part shimmering--meaning it is distance from view related. If I choose FPS-killing supersampling, there is no shadow shimmering, even from a great distance. The too-common flickering textures on advertisement signs and this example of the trees at Portugal are unfortunately unaffected by supersampling--those are track specific I believe. But SS does solve the shadow issue. You can imagine what a difference there is at a place like Monaco main straight that is lined by trees!

The clear view of all this is if you click through to YouTube and then select to watch full screen.

 

set lod bias to off instead of auto in your player.json file. Try that

 

No effect on this issue whatsoever, unfortunately.

 

darn thought it may help since it clears up a lot of jaggies and crawling.

 

Don't want to derail this thread, but is Texture Sharpening OFF the preferred setting now? Does it work best in the most variety of circumstances? That's what I use, but as usual, always wonder if AUTO is better. Any good specific examples where you can see the difference?

 

Auto is default. Off is the old alt-M thing.

 

OFF helps to clear jaggies from some modded and older ISI tracks that use too sharp (negative) LOD bias values. Newer ISI tracks have no bias so AUTO/OFF won't make a difference for those.

 

Thanks--at least I was using the right setting there! Hopefully Tim and others will look at my shimmering/flickering shadows video and tell me I have a wrong setting somewhere! It would be great in this case if I was an anomaly.

 

Who else has the shadow issues as seen in the video clip?

 

Yes, does it bother me? Not when racing no as it's barely noticeable as I tend to leave the pits as fast as possible, I see the flicker in the trees when driving at 1mph as well, but again when racing I don't notice it at all.

I can do the same in Far Cry 4, walk slowly and see graphical discrepancies, play at normal speed and it's fine. 'Elite: Dangerous' is the same, fly slowly up to a station and I can spot a texture overlap flickering amongst the stars, do I notice it when kicking ass against an Anaconda? No.

Point is, play the game, stop looking for the smallest issues, if these little things bother you that much then I am truly very sorry for you!

 

Thanks for your sympathy. All I needed was your confirmation that shadows are not optimized on your rig, too. And if you thought about it for a moment, you would realize that as mentioned above, the example in the video is not a huge deal. It's tracks like Monaco or other places where lots of trees or lots of objects throw shadows.

By the way, do you have the flickering in the trees at Portugal, too? And I'm happy for you in advance if you are able to ignore them--that's not the question or the point. 95% of the people on here can ignore the AI issues you have been whining about for 3 years because they're only interested in online. So should people keep saying you are wrong to care about them? No, I care about AI too and you pointing these things out eventually helps to get them addressed. If you can't refrain from personalizing technical discussions, then don't bother replying in the first place.

 

Funny that, I've never once whined about the AI, shows what little you know! As Tim says above "Older content might need to be updated." with reference to Monaco, but with your reputation in pointing out every tiny little discrepancy you can't blame me for questioning why a little shadow causes you such grief can you?!

As for "shadows not optimized on your rig", I've just had a blast at LRP in the BTCC and not once did any shadows give me any issues whatsoever, also Mid Ohio yesterday and Silverstone the other day.....I'm enjoying this game, shame you choose not too.

 

Portugal 2.0 isn't old content.

Why are you questioning my interpretation of your ongoing discussion of AI issues as whining? How dare you!

You failed, as usual, to answer the relevant technical question about flickering trees.

You also seem to be able to determine others' enjoyment levels of things when you don't know them nor have ever met them. That surely is a tremendously valuable and marketable skill. It's a wonder you come here and exchange messages with the rest of us mere mortals.