Visual ENB HDR Bloom Mod use in FSX.

[blueskydriver]

Don't know how many of you heard of the ENB HDR Bloom mod that is used in first person shooters or games like Grand Theft Auto, but did you know it can be used in FSX with some really nice effects.

Basically, you download some files, transfer them to your main FSX folder, change a few .ini settings, and then use Shift-F12 to turn it on or off while in FSX.

Here is an excerpt from Nick Neeham:

["What I use you may not like. In my sim I do not like excessively bright sky, washed out relections on aircraft or very dark ground that is not true to real life.

My settings for that tweak are designed to correct the lighting on the ground during the day, enhance and corrects ground lighting at sunrise and sunset and correct the level of light at night but at the same time compensate for the reduction so city lighting is rendered correctly and stars can be seen.

During the day it creates a natural "hot spot" in reflective surfaces based on sun position without the excessive 'wash' and darkens the shadow areas. The effect is sublte at times and more dramatic at others which is exactly how I like my sim.. very dynamic, surprising, ..  and not 'static' in lighting changes

They should compensate and correct the ground texture light 'bug' at night when cockpit lights are turned on.

You may even find they fix the excessively bright cockpit lights in some aircraft

If you use these settings be advised they are made so the monitor levels do not need to be adjusted for night flying in the driver. (contrast/brightness should remain the same)

They will provide a natural 'lift' in light to the horizon and to reflective surfaces as the sun rises and sets."]

You can find the full instructions by him located here:

http://www.simforums.com/forums/enb-bloom-mod-nicks-cOnfig-settings_topic32482.html

Here is where you get the files (www.flightsim.com and you might need to register, if haven't already):

http://www.flightsim.com/kdl.php?fid=145660

You can read more info here:

http://flightsimaviation.blogspot.com/2010/11/enb-series-flight-simulator-x-or-9-how.html

Finally, tried this last night and while setting on the runway at KMSP and in rain, the lighting effects changed to that drab look of when it is really raining outside. Normally, FSX (FS9) has this way of making things look like they're computerized (an oxymoron I know). In other words, normally FSX (FS9) looks to bright in the wrong places and in turn, the images appear flat and/or washed out. The only way for me to explain this is to tell you to try it.

I have no frame loss when it is turned on and the overhead for computer resources is small; it is only three files.

It looked really good on the projectors, so I think it is worth it...

John

[Maurice]

Sounds very interesting but what concerns me much more than the daylight effects are the night effects. I find that clouds at night look almost as bright as during the day even with no moon, and the water looks very bright as well when it really should not even be seen.

I'm pretty sure this is the way things normally are in FSX or FS9, so I am wondering is this mod helps lower the brightness of the clouds and the water at night. I guess I need to try it myself but have you noticed any improvement at night?

Thanks,

Maurice

[blueskydriver]

Oh yes, at night things get much darker with this. However, the way you describe your issues, I wonder about your brightness and contrast settings of the projectors?

Normaly, I was using the "Normal" for bulb settings with the projectors. Yet, I decided to change them last night to a setting called "Theater" and everything looked a lot better. In the past, I used User Settings (where you adjust the brightness, contrast and etc yourself) to tweak the bulbs, but it was only after adjusting for the stars did mine get brighter.

More or less, yours sounds like too much brightness and/or contrast, where mine was not enough. I suggest you fool with them; although, you should try the ENB first because it only takes five minutes to install and setup.

I will email you the needed files; instructions in the email. Once you have it installed, you use Shift F12 to turn it on/off.

BSD

[Maurice]

I tried the ENB mod and it does indeed darken things at night especially. I very much liked the fact that the clouds almost disappeared and the water was much darker as well, but all the airport & city lights got much dimmer as well.

The lights of HongKong at night were not visible in the distance and barely visible as you got closer, so I really did not like that. But also, there was a significant fps loss at certain times and very bothersome stutters as well.

For day flying, I did not like the change and I prefer my regular settings.

Bottom line, unless there is a way to darken the clouds without affecting city lights, I can't see myself using the mod. Too bad because I love to see a totally dark sky with barely visible clouds at night.

I played as well with the projector settings and I still prefer the Presentation mode for day flying. The Cinema mode was a bit better for night flying but not worth switching modes all the time. I may try to play with the various projector settings and save some custom settings for night flight only if it significantly improves the night sky without affecting the lights too much.

Maurice