New star anti-aliasing feature for Version 12

[Troy McClellan]

It would be helpful to add the ability to apply anti-aliasing to the star field to reduce or eliminate star flickering when the stars are in motion (I am not talking about the twinkle effect). This would allow the star spots to become smaller and more realistic. In traditional rendering software it can be as simple as setting anti-aliasing to enabled and picking the desired strength. There are several models of anti-aliasing and I see no need to have that many choices. Once the model is found to work, all that is needed is a "power" or "strength" option.

[Trystan (trystan)]

Not sure antialiasing is really what you want. NS12 is capable of full screen AA but that just reduces perceived jaggedness due to square pixels. Applying AA to stars actually makes them larger in terms of pixel size on screen. Perhapse you mean to suggest a different bloom or blur algorithm?

At any rate, we already use a completely different rendering approach to stars in NS12 that allows for control over the point spread function for an inner bright area of the star plus a dimmer halo simultaneously.

[Troy McClellan (bj7u6139zdyf2a6nz2ly74oec10f2lnela24rsgd389d0elot5a7jz6hawymvsdk8c4sd6srfzh4ilnrb31ygxg0292-wtz4-jjcftv6wldnzq84cskygyvhqqb9qwjfcq0yfnwzcca0ux8ircw2a3om624q2ycdp941uw5474gcdbi2qtcnliiwmmp1)]

Trystan,

I'm sure you are correct in your terms. My concern was simply to avoid
flicker stars when the sky is in motion. I can't wait to see how it
turns out.

Thanks,

Troy

On 8/8/2012 5:45 PM, Trystan wrote:
> Not sure antialiasing is really what you want. NS12 is capable of full
> screen AA but that just reduces perceived jaggedness due to square
> pixels. Applying AA to stars actually makes them larger in terms of
> pixel size on screen. Perhapse you mean to suggest a different bloom or
> blur algorithm?
>
> At any rate, we already use a completely different rendering approach to
> stars in NS12 that allows for control over the point spread function for
> an inner bright area of the star plus a dimmer halo simultaneously.
>

[Troy McClellan (bj7u6139zdyf2a6nz2ly74oec10f2lnela24rsgd389d0elot5a7jz6hawymvsdk8c4sd6srfzh4ilnrb31ygxg0292-wtz4-jjcftv6wldnzq84cskygyvhqqb9qwjfcq0yfnwzcca0ux8ircw2a3om624q2ycdp941uw5474gcdbi2qtcnliiwmmp1)]

Trystan,

Is there going to be a cloud layer for the Earth model? Also, is it
possible to reduce or eliminate the specular highlight spot on Mars
(seen in demo video)?

Thanks,

Troy

On 8/8/2012 5:45 PM, Trystan wrote:
> Not sure antialiasing is really what you want. NS12 is capable of full
> screen AA but that just reduces perceived jaggedness due to square
> pixels. Applying AA to stars actually makes them larger in terms of
> pixel size on screen. Perhapse you mean to suggest a different bloom or
> blur algorithm?
>
> At any rate, we already use a completely different rendering approach to
> stars in NS12 that allows for control over the point spread function for
> an inner bright area of the star plus a dimmer halo simultaneously.
>

[Rob Spearman (rob-digitaliseducation)]

Let's keep bug reports on topic. (But, yes, the specular highlight in
the preview video will go away on Mars).

[Troy McClellan (bj7u6139zdyf2a6nz2ly74oec10f2lnela24rsgd389d0elot5a7jz6hawymvsdk8c4sd6srfzh4ilnrb31ygxg0292-wtz4-jjcftv6wldnzq84cskygyvhqqb9qwjfcq0yfnwzcca0ux8ircw2a3om624q2ycdp941uw5474gcdbi2qtcnliiwmmp1)]

No problem.

Thanks,

Troy

On 8/9/2012 10:51 AM, Rob Spearman wrote:
> Let's keep bug reports on topic. (But, yes, the specular highlight in
> the preview video will go away on Mars).
>