Skyrim LE Shadow Optimization

[Dushyanth]

Hi Guys,

 

I'm new to this form, this is my 1st post regarding shadows, is ENB series is capable to generate dynamic shadows, i.e every object in the game. I want to implement in Trainz 12 through post processing Technic  as Trainz 12 game engine does not support to generate dynamic shadows for all objects.

[TechAngel85]

No, I don't recall it adding shadows to any objects. I believe it simply redoes the existing shadows created by the game. This might be a question better suited to the ENB Dev Forums. Boris is a nice guy, but if he doesn't see any point in something, he'll tell it to you straight and sometimes rather bluntly. That's just how he is so if that happens don't get discouraged.

[lilrosaleen]

I am recommending the following settings for shadows after my testing:

[Display]
bDeferredShadows=1
bShadowMaskZPrepass=0
fInteriorShadowDistance=4000.0000
fShadowBiasScale=1
fShadowDistance=2800.0000
iBlurDeferredShadowMask=4
iShadowFilter=3
iShadowMapResolution=1366
;set iShadowMapResolution to your screen width

Thank you so much for sharing this.

[TechAngel85]

 

I am recommending the following settings for shadows after my testing:

[Display]
bDeferredShadows=1
bShadowMaskZPrepass=0
fInteriorShadowDistance=4000.0000
fShadowBiasScale=1
fShadowDistance=2800.0000
iBlurDeferredShadowMask=4
iShadowFilter=3
iShadowMapResolution=1366
;set iShadowMapResolution to your screen width

These settings caused glitchy shadows on my system and it was caused by iShadowMapResolution. Here you say to set it to your screen resolution; however, in the INI Guide you've said to set it to values that correspond to texture resolution sizes (1024, 2048, 4096, etc). Having it set to my screen resolution (1920) causes shadows to flicker. Setting it to 1024 or 2048 seems to work fine.

 

Video:

https://copy.com/OCTA4aalCoT9sbO3 (quality is not great due to being quickly tossed together in Movie Maker) (that's 1920, not 1980)

 

EDIT:

Increasing fShadowBiasScale and fShadowDistance reduces the issue, but only changing the iShadowMapResolution completely fixes it.

[DoubleYou]

Thanks for the report. Will test. That may prove to be an invaluable observation, although I sincerely doubt it. It is more likely that the increase or decrease in resolution reduced flickering in the locations you were observing.

[TechAngel85]

I'd say that ENB users probably (It would need testing as I don't use one because my system is too weak) would be best off with the following:

[Display]
bDeferredShadows=1
bShadowMaskZPrepass=0
fInteriorShadowDistance=4000
fShadowBiasScale=0.4
;Somewhere between 0.1 and 0.6 probably is best for fShadowBiasScale
fShadowDistance=4000
;May increase fShadowDistance to higher values
iBlurDeferredShadowMask=1
;Setting iBlurDeferredShadowMask to 0 will cause buggy ENB shadows. This may be increased at user discretion.
iShadowFilter=3
iShadowMapResolution=1920
;set iShadowMapResolution to your screen width

Edit: Removed superfluous INI settings from the recommendations that do not do anything.

 

Not tested as thoroughly, but these settings seem to work fine during my quick test. I don't experience the issues above with ENB enabled (Vividian Vanilla v7); however, it's really hard to bork up shadow settings for ENBs because ENBSeries fixes most shadow issues. Best to get it right in Vanilla and then work on ENB recommendations.

[DoubleYou]

Ok, I have thoroughly tested your theory, and I believe you are correct. I tested with 1000, 1022, 1023, and 1024, and the only one that didn't show the issue at all was 1024. It would seem then that the shadow map might indeed be influenced by a texture, and by setting it to the incorrect multiple of that texture, it flickers. Great find.

 

Now, that entire behavior was the reason I forbade high fShadowDistance settings in vanilla. With that discovery we can put that back up to 4000 again.

 

ENB does its shadows quite differently and it doesn't surprise me that it has no issue with those settings.

 

Edit: Updated OP with new recommendations.

Edited September 8, 2015 by DoubleYou

[TechAngel85]

Cool. I'll set it back to 1024 and distance back to 4000. I've been playing with the distance to see just have far it is and 2800 was way too short a distance for exteriors. 4000 is approximately the distance from standing on the the main path between Serverio's house and the General Goods store to the Whiterun Main Gates. You can see this in action as you walk closer or further away from the gates and the gates transition from shadowed to unshadowed. 5000 pushes the distance nearly to the market place, but 4000 is probably a good distance for STEP.

[TechAngel85]

Okay, I'm actually going to have my fShadowDistance set to 6000. This keeps everything in shadow as you're walking around Whiterun and is good for immersion so you don't notice shadows fading into the scene. It's still lower than the 8000 that's recommended for my system by the game.

[TechAngel85]

I updated the OP for ENBs:
 
;Somewhere between 0.1 and 0.6 is best for fShadowBiasScale
 
to
 
;Somewhere between 0.4 and 1.0 is best for fShadowBiasScale
 
 
This is going to be user preference on how they want the shadows look and could change depending on the ENB Preset used, but going too far down causes shadows to start covering entire surfaces which is not desired. I currently have mine set to 0.6 as a happy place. Some shadowing on the face of the rocks is natural and desirable but too much doesn't look good. ENB used is Vividian Vanilla V7.
 
fShadowBiasScale=1.0 >> fShadowBiasScale=0.4 >> fShadowBiasScale=0.15

[z929669]

Nice work guys, will keep this in mind

[oqhansoloqo]

Okay, I'm actually going to have my fShadowDistance set to 6000. This keeps everything in shadow as you're walking around Whiterun and is good for immersion so you don't notice shadows fading into the scene. It's still lower than the 8000 that's recommended for my system by the game.

I've had mine set to 6000 for a long time after testing various settings for that previously.

[oqhansoloqo]

I updated the OP for ENBs:

 

;Somewhere between 0.1 and 0.6 is best for fShadowBiasScale

 

to

 

;Somewhere between 0.4 and 1.0 is best for fShadowBiasScale

 

In the past I played with this one and I've noticed that anything lower than 1 gives me a little too much "shadow striping".  I think it was if you go above (rather than below) 1 then shadows just start looking really messed up.  See your character's shadow - it will lose connection with your body.  I found 1 to be the best compromise between shadow striping and disjointed looking shadows.  Of course, I guess usage of an ENB would change the "game plan".

[TechAngel85]

Yes, that is only for ENBs. Else, it should be at 1.0.

[GrantSP]

I'm a little confused by this iShadowMapResolution setting, so I'll ask a few questions.

• Which textures are influenced by this setting? Terrain only? Do you see the same issues in cities as in the wild?
• What happens with systems with a mixture of 1K, 2K or 4K textures?
• How does this interact with the fShadowDistance setting?
• Does it make a difference if you are near a cell boundary?