SkyrimLE:ENBSeries INI Reference/Effect
A comprehensive and advanced guide and modder's resource for editing the 'enbseries.ini' file for n00bs and gurus alike -- by the S.T.E.P. Team
- Updated: 17:55:22 8 December 2014 (UTC)
[EFFECT]
The [EFFECT] section is where users can enable or disable the ENB effects such as depth of field and SSAO. Many presets have different performance versions which are various optimizations to these effects and their individual settings so users would not have to manually edit any parameters and potentially mess up the quality or the "look and feel" of the preset. Disabling some of these effects will provide better performance. All of the effects below are disabled by default unless otherwise indicated.
UseOriginalPostProcessing
This parameter will enable Bethesda's vanilla game post-processing algorithm by bypassing the custom post processing in theenbeffect.fx file. This will render the game with the vanilla color palette which is useful for users who like the vanilla look of Skyrim, but would like to use some of the ENBSeries effects and fixes. Enabling this parameter may not work with all presets. Some preset authors have created their own effect files with the code necessary for this parameter to work properly either removed or altered in a way which would negate its purpose.
UseOriginalPostProcessing=(false, true)
UseOriginalObjectsProcessing
Enabling this parameter will revert certain object related shader effects back to vanilla, which ENBSeries would normally alter.
UseOriginalObjectsProcessing=(false, true)
EnableBloom
Enabling this parameter will enable the ENB specific Bloom code contained within the enbbloom.fx file. This will not remove all bloom in all cases, however. If the preset used is setup to use vanilla bloom, then the vanilla bloom will still will still be applied. Only in certain enbbloom.fx files will there be a significant performance cost related to bloom. In most cases, enbbloom.fx files come with their own quality controls which should be altered before disabling this effect, since bloom is a vital part of the overall post processing visuals.
EnableBloom=(false, true)
EnableLens
This parameter will enable or disable the enblens.fx file and the corresponding lens parameters in enbseries.ini. It only makes sense to enable this if both an enblens.fx file that does something as well as the textures it require to function in .tga format are present. Performance will depend on the enblens.fx file and the few that do exist also have their own quality controls. This effect is mainly a feature for screen archers.
EnableLens=(false, true)
EnableAdaptation
This enables or disables the ENB's method of eye adaptation to the screen brightness. This effect mimics the duration it takes for the eyes to adjust to bright lights. Vanilla Skyrim has this feature; however, it happens unnaturally quick. Many ENB presets modify this duration; making it longer to provide a more natural feel.
EnableAdaptation=(false, true)
EnableDepthOfField
Enabling this parameter will enable the enbeffectprepass.fx file. This file mainly contains the code related to Depth of Field (DoF) effects. The performance cost of this effect varies greatly from 1 FPS to "you wont be able to even start the game", depending on the type of DoF used. In general, the more smooth blurring that is given the more of a performance hit will result. Most files come with performance settings which can be tweaked. Note that this will not disable the default vanilla DoF or blur effects.
EnableDepthOfField=(false, true)
EnableAmbientOcclusion
This parameter enables or disables the screen space ambient occlusion (SSAO) and indirect lighting (SSIL) effects. Disabling this provides a performance increase. It is; however, configurable to different levels which can be found below within the SSAO section. Each level provides a different quality/performance ratio. This setting can have up to 25% FPS impact.
EnableAmbientOcclusion=(false, true)
EnableDetailedShadow
As the name suggests, this feature adjusts the games shadow rendering; making them more detailed and slightly blurrier than Vanilla. This also fixes the shadow striping issue of the vanilla game. Disabling this provides a small performance increase. This parameter only has an average of a 2-5% FPS impact. It is recommended to enable it.
EnableDetailedShadow=(false, true)
EnableSunRays
Sun rays are the bright rays of light you see when looking towards the sun through trees and clouds; also referred to as Godrays. Sunrays only have an average of a 2-5% FPS impact.
EnableSunRays=(false, true)
EnableSunGlare
This parameter will enable or disable the enbsunsprite.fx shader. This is recommended to be left set to whatever value the ENB Preset's author uses unless having trouble with sun sprites.
EnableSunGlare=(false, true)
EnableSkyLighting
This will enable or disable the sky lighting. This feature mimics the real world shadowing fade; making shadows darker in the middle and gradually lightening them while moving out towards the edge. This setting can have up to a 15% FPS impact. Other effects may also rely on this to be enabled.
EnableSkyLighting=(false, true)
- *The ENB used is not set up properly for SkyLighting and is the reason for the overly bright sky. A better compare will be coming.
EnableImageBasedLighting
This setting enables an effect that enhances SkyLighting by adding a simulated real world indirect lighting created by the atmosphere to most exterior surfaces.
EnableImageBasedLighting=(false, true)
EnableReflection
This will enable or disable the dynamic reflections effects that are added to surfaces. The reflection effect is not for object reflections, but rather reflection of the environmental lighting.
EnableReflection=(false, true)
EnableSoftParticles
This will enable or disable softening or smoothing of particle effects, like fires and fire sprites.
EnableSoftParticles=(false, true)
EnableParticleLights
This will enable or disable glow effects that can be found around light sources such as candles, lanterns, and fireplaces. This also enables light sprites to cast light. This does not affect performance.
EnableParticleLights=(false, true)
EnableSubSurfaceScattering
Subsurface scattering (SSS) is an effect to give objects, like skin, candle wax and some vegetation a more transparent look. Light can pass through objects to light the back side or return to the surface to help give off a glow or make them look more natural and realistic.
EnableSubSurfaceScattering=(false, true)
EnableWater
This will enable or disable the water effects of ENB which include light dispersion, caustics (light reflection), parallax, shadows, displacement and other lighting effects that are seen on the surface of the water.
EnableWater=(false, true)
EnableUnderwater
This will enable or disable underwater effects including dispersion, parallax, silhouettes, blurring, and shadows among other effects which are seen while under the water.
EnableUnderwater=(false, true)
EnableCloudShadows
Cloud shadows are shadows seen on the ground caused by clouds in the sky. This effect brings a great deal of realism into Skyrim and is highly recommended! It is enabled by default. This parameter can not be changed in-game.
EnableCloudShadows=(false, true)
EnableVolumetricRays
Volumetric rays are used to create "god rays". The effective use of this effect depends highly on which cloud textures are used.
EnableVolumetricRays=(false, true)
EnableProceduralSun
Procedural Sun was added to ENBSeries to allow for other effects to be more accurately displayed and to offer more customization than what a single texture allows. If this is used, any sun texture will no longer be applied. The glare texture will still be used, however.
EnableProceduralSun=(false, true)
EnableMist
Mist is a combination of the fog and haze effects and was previously called Haze in older ENBSeries versions. In Skyrim this basically boils down to effects on the fog. ENB preset authors also have the ability to place fog in the worldspce via anchors with this effect. It is enabled by default.
EnableMist=(false, true)
[COLORCORRECTION]
The [COLORCORRECTION] section will allow a gradient image, called a color palette, to be used which is blended over the entire scene. The color palette can be any gradient colors. This section also allows the adjustment of overall scene brightness and gamma; however, before adjusting the Brightness or GammaCurve parameters, it is recommended to be sure the monitor in user is properly calibrated. Authors, keep in mind the parameters here will affect all users of the ENB Preset.
UsePaletteTexture
This parameter determines whether or not the included color palette image is used. The color palette will be named enbpalette.bmp. The palette is a mix of tonemapping and color correction in one. The idea is that depending on how bright a certain pixel is, it will be shifted to whatever corresponding value you have in the .bmp file. To use this the required code must be present and enabled in the enbeffect.fx file. Likewise if the code is enabled in enbeffect.fx, then this parameter needs to be enabled or a black screen will result. This feature can reduce image quality, depending on the code used, but especially depending on the quality of the enbpalette.bmp image used. Also, for this parameter to work UseOriginalPostProcessing must be disabled.
UsePaletteTexture=(false, true)
- *The palette texture used below was a simple black to white gradient.
Brightness
This parameter will adjust the brightness of the overall scene. This can help if users are using different in game brightness settings and need to tweak for preference. Values range from 0.0 which is nearly pure black to 100.0+ which is nearly pure white.
Brightness=(0.0...)
GammaCurve
This parameter will adjust the gamma of the overall scene. This can help if users are using different in game brightness settings and need to tweak for preference. Values range from 1.0 to 2.5.
GammaCurve=(1.0 ... 2.5)
UseProceduralCorrection
This parameter enables the LDR/"Photoshop" color corrections found within the enbeffect.fx file. The actual code is located in the default enbeffect.fx file that comes with any ENBSeries version newer than v0.215. The variables can be alter both in the file itself or using the ENBSeries GUI for easy in-game customization.
UseProceduralCorrection=(false, true)
- *In the second and third images below all of the shader variables have been altered to show different effects.
When enabled, the below variables found in the enbeffect.fx file or in Shader Window and choosing ENBEFFECT.FX of the in-game GUI menu can be altered which provides far more control over several color correction effects. Using the GUI, make sure ENBSeries is chosen at the top of the ENBEFFECT.FX menu to ensure the ENBSeries code is rendered. The Vanilla option will render the vanilla game code.
ECCGamma=(0.2... ) ECCInBlack=(0.0... ) ECCInWhite=(0.0... ) ECCOutBlack=(0.0... ) ECCOutWhite=(0.0... ) ECCBrightness=(0.0... ) ECCContrastGrayLevel=(0.01... ) ECCContrast=(0.0... ) ECCSaturation=(0.0... ) ECCDesaturateShadows=(0.0... ) ECCColorBalanceShadows=(0.0, 0.0, 0.0... ) ECCColorBalanceHighlights=(0.0, 0.0, 0.0... ) ECCChannelMixerR=(0.0, 0.0, 0.0... ) ECCChannelMixerG=(0.0, 0.0, 0.0... ) ECCChannelMixerB=(0.0, 0.0, 0.0... )
