Author Topic: Anisotropic filtering? (Read 1742 times)

Sled · « **on:** April 14, 2007, 05:34:34 PM »

Yes I did a search on the AH BBS, and it came up with nothing.

I seem to remember once hearing that Anisotropic filtering (AF) was not used in AH.

Is this still true? I was talking to Kermit and he says he uses it, and loves it.

What does AF do?

I know about Anti-Aliasing (AA) and what it does, and I use it at 4X normally.

I normal run at 1600X1200, 512 text size, AA 4X, AF application preference.

Speed55 · « **Reply #1 on:** April 14, 2007, 09:04:12 PM »

I've been reading up on it myself here. http://www.tweakguides.com/ATICAT_1.html

FBplmmr · « **Reply #2 on:** April 15, 2007, 10:56:09 AM »

with a Nvid card you can go to the properties page and on the image settings
right click the items then left click the "whats this " box

it will then display a brief explanation of the item ..such as ansio whomacallits filterioptimization bearings and what the different adjustments do

Skuzzy · « **Reply #3 on:** April 15, 2007, 08:01:13 PM »

Basically anistropic filtering only effects textures at oblique angles from the viewer. It has no effect on textures which are not at a big angle of incidence away from the viewer/camera.

It will also blur the text in the chat buffer.

Basically it is a different texture filter technique, which is more resource intensive.

No, we do not use it.

Sled · « **Reply #4 on:** April 15, 2007, 08:44:47 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Skuzzy
No, we do not use it.

Well there you go.

Seeing as AH is the only "game" that I play. I guess I don't need to mess with it.

Thanks for the answers guys.

humble · « **Reply #5 on:** April 19, 2007, 12:03:50 PM »

I've got my AA at x8s and my AF at x16. No question that overall quality seems a bit higher....whats funny is that my framerate seems a bit better under heavy load....

SkyGnome · « **Reply #6 on:** April 20, 2007, 05:42:36 PM »

AF can help the image quality significantly, and on most graphics cards since the Radeon 9500 series, it comes at a reasonably low performance cost.

The effect it provides is a reduction in the "shimmering" of textures with detail, that are presented at angles away from the view (like the ground).

Not such a big deal in MA at the moment, since the ground texture has practically no detail with which to create the shimmering artifact in the first place, but in the past it has been a big help - especially with some of the more detailed ground textures found in non-MA maps.

Never been too clear on why Skuzzy thinks it's evil, as it can cut the shimmering down considerably (er.. well... it used to.) Certainly with the hardware that we have today, a more detailed ground texture could be used without artifacting.

Kermit de frog · « **Reply #7 on:** April 20, 2007, 10:40:57 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Skuzzy
Basically anistropic filtering only effects textures at oblique angles from the viewer. It has no effect on textures which are not at a big angle of incidence away from the viewer/camera.

It will also blur the text in the chat buffer.

Basically it is a different texture filter technique, which is more resource intensive.

No, we do not use it.

When you say "we do not use it", what do you mean?

Do you mean, you personally do not use AS while you play/create or do you mean AS will not work with AH?

Rolex · « **Reply #8 on:** April 20, 2007, 11:52:35 PM »

Kermit, he means that anistropic filtering is not supported or incorporated into the application. Enabling or changing settings for anistropic filtering does nothing in Aces High, contrary to what some may think.

Kermit de frog · « **Reply #9 on:** April 21, 2007, 12:37:02 AM »

Well, I tested it just now. I can't see any visual improvement with AS turned on to 16x or 2x or just OFF.

Before the update, the textures would look wavy/liney. Like the edges of polygons without AA. With AS turned on to 16x, textures would look great!
I've noticed an increase in Framerates when around trees. I'd drop to 40, now only drop to 50 when zoomed in looking only at trees when only a few feet above them.

Skuzzy, help us out. Why is it so?

Skuzzy · « **Reply #10 on:** April 21, 2007, 06:04:02 AM »

I never said anisotropic filtering (AF) is evil. I said there are few places it is helpful in the game. And if you have shimmering textures when using the standard trilinear filtering, then something is wrong with the video card configuration.

Like the driver is trying to avoid doing filtering at all. You are just masking a problem with the video card/driver if you have to enable AF to get rid of it.

With the way the ground textures are stretched to cover the tile it would be difficult to see a visual improvement using AF. You really should not see an improvement using AF. If you do see an improvement, then, again, something is wrong with the video card/driver configuration. In all but a few cases in the game, trilinear filtering should be more than fine.

AF is not free. It uses a number of resources on the video card. Multiple samples of the texture sample size have to be taken in order for it to work. The card keep multiple copies of the sample size. The larger the sample size, the more memory each texture requires.

Rolex, AF can be forced on in most modern video cards and it will override the game's filtering choice.

Kermit de frog · « **Reply #11 on:** April 21, 2007, 12:48:11 PM »

Thanks skuzzy.

I did my own tests only a few weeks ago to see the difference between 16x and off for AS. I rememeber the ground textures having a huge improvement. That is not the case anymore. The ground textures don't seem to need AS. Thank you for clearing that for us. If Sled never posted this topic, I'd be spreading false information to many more people.

~~Skuzzy~~

Sled · « **Reply #12 on:** April 21, 2007, 02:37:08 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Kermit de frog
If Sled never posted this topic, I'd be spreading false information to many more people.

Kind of like me telling everyone in the MA that you are a vulching HO TARD!

scottydawg · « **Reply #13 on:** April 23, 2007, 04:34:01 PM »

I found that AA and AF, when turned on, tend to make the 'dots' disappear. This manifested itself one hilarious squad night in FSO.

daddog: "3 dots, 9 o'clock high"
me: "Don't see em"
daddog: "now 6 dots, 9 o'clock"
me: "still don't see em"
daddog: " 8 niki's, range 3.0" (this is when the icon range kicked in)
me: "Ah, now I got em. Man, we're in trouble"
daddog: "..."
me: "I dunno why I didn't see them"

Kermit de frog · « **Reply #14 on:** May 20, 2007, 02:28:33 PM »

Hmm, I was flying on the map that has a big circle land mass and mountains everywhere requiring you to fly up high to get to the next base.
Anyway, I noticed when I looked over to the horizon, the ground textures looked very computerized, like a jpeg or something. I then turned on AF to 16x and then alt tab'd back into the game, looked over to the same area and it looked better, no jpeg-like look to it.

Skuzzy is right that it only affects textures at oblique angles. I find it does help Aces High in that 1 specific moment. That moment is when you are at 10k or higher and are looking out in the distance and when you see the ground, it helps make the texture continue to look good as it gets further out from you. Other than that, I don't see AF improving the look to other textures. If AF were to make my framerates drop below 60, I would back it off a notch until it had no drastic affect on my framerates as it would not be worth it to me.

AF does improve Aces High.

I have 7950GT OC w/ 93.71 drivers