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Screen Refresh and Transparency
#12299
04/10/03 08:03
04/10/03 08:03
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Anonymous
OP
Unregistered
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Anonymous
OP
Unregistered
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I'm confused about this, searched in the forum but didn't suceed. I'm willing to make a nebulous fog using several transparent spheres with clouds around the player so that in distance it looks good. The scene is very simple for testing, just a big box with flat blue 32x32 texture, a terrain with 1024 skin and 128 detail, and the 6 resized spheres (320 faces, 32x32x16 skin) with 0 albedo, 100 ambient, transparent, flare, nofog, unlit. The statistics panel is telling me that it is taking too much time to refresh this. Specially using a higher resolution screen:  Are the flags set wrong? What does influence refresh? Using small skins scaled up a lot is bad?
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Re: Screen Refresh and Transparency
#12300
04/17/03 20:07
04/17/03 20:07
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 836 sydney, australia
dan_e6
Developer
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Developer
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 836
sydney, australia
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i dont know why one of the moderators answer this question..... maybe its cause the fog is using up to much of the RAM causing it to not refresh?
P4 2.8ghz
1536MB PC3200 RAM
9800XT 256MB
17" LCD
80GIG HD
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Re: Screen Refresh and Transparency
#12301
04/18/03 00:33
04/18/03 00:33
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Anonymous
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Unregistered
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Anonymous
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So, this means that it can't be helped? I won't be able to use a few big transparent objects in A5? - If this is the case ![[Frown]](images/icons/frown.gif) , just help me get it straight: I think it have something to do about the depth rendering, if the transparent objects shows only in a small portion of the screen, they render lightly, even if there are lots more of them superposed.
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Re: Screen Refresh and Transparency
#12303
04/18/03 08:43
04/18/03 08:43
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 836 sydney, australia
dan_e6
Developer
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Developer
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 836
sydney, australia
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that couldbe a possibility....
P4 2.8ghz
1536MB PC3200 RAM
9800XT 256MB
17" LCD
80GIG HD
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Re: Screen Refresh and Transparency
#12304
04/19/03 04:10
04/19/03 04:10
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Anonymous
OP
Unregistered
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Anonymous
OP
Unregistered
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"Big blue box" is the outter box that contains the entire level? No, at least the camera wasn't. Certainly the spheres were, but I didn't guess it could be a problem. Well, will try now. If I succed I'll return. ![[Razz]](images/icons/tongue.gif) Erm, I didn't understand the " ![[Big Grin]](images/icons/grin.gif) ". I'm from a latin country, maybe that's why.
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Re: Screen Refresh and Transparency
#12305
04/19/03 06:32
04/19/03 06:32
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Anonymous
OP
Unregistered
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Anonymous
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Unregistered
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No change, everything is in the box. But what did change is that now I am using 5 half spheres and a texture of 1024x512 the screen refresh time takes 30u at 1024x768 fullscreen (70 at same resolution windowed, other specifications [see previous posts]). I'm still at around 50 fps with a radeon 64.  I've been watching other games, paying atention to grass. Why the major part avoid alpha transparency and use indexed? Just because of the extra channel? If it was only it, I still think it is worth the extra channel because it can even make up for the memory against the need of a higher resolution sprite.
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Re: Screen Refresh and Transparency
#12306
04/22/03 15:47
04/22/03 15:47
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Anonymous
OP
Unregistered
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Anonymous
OP
Unregistered
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Hum...  opaque  sky=overlay+transparent+alpha=40 / tree=overlay  sky=TGA alpha / tree=overlay  TGA alpha transparency
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Re: Screen Refresh and Transparency
#12307
04/23/03 07:49
04/23/03 07:49
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 7,441
ventilator
Senior Expert
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Senior Expert
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 7,441
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as far as i know using several huge screen-filling transparent entities which are behind each other is slow with all engines (or with realtime 3d graphics in general). i am not sure but i think this has something to do with pixel fill rate and overdraw rate or something like that... 1024x768 * 5 spheres * 50 fps =~ 200.000.000 pixels per second only for your spheres. does anybody know the max fillrate of current graphic cards or of the radeon 64? quote: I've been watching other games, paying atention to grass. Why the major part avoid alpha transparency and use indexed? Just because of the extra channel? If it was only it, I still think it is worth the extra channel because it can even make up for the memory against the need of a higher resolution sprite.
sprites or model entities with alpha channel can't use the z-buffer and have to be depth sorted which takes a lot of performance especially with huge numbers of entities...
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Re: Screen Refresh and Transparency
#12308
04/23/03 20:48
04/23/03 20:48
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Anonymous
OP
Unregistered
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Anonymous
OP
Unregistered
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WOW! THANK YOU, VENTILATOR! This was so the information I needed! Fill Rate! I wandered what was that strange test in 3DMark about. I think I got it now, will research more. If only I could give you 5 more stars. Damn Maya Exporter, I'm in so debt with you, sometime I would make it up to. (Sorry, can't pay in cash now ![[Razz]](images/icons/tongue.gif) ) I guess that, if you weren't busy, you should be the next hired by Conitec to improve learning of users. You're very empathic. What are you looking at? Yeah, you happened to solve a life's storm. A noble life ![[Wink]](images/icons/wink.gif) . Thanks again.
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