Editor/Tool: Editor 3D Area Resolution

[Rhino]

This is something I've been sick of seeing for a long time now with people showing me editor pics like this one where the pixels are so large you can't see any detail at all:


Thanks to [R-CON]Outlawz for the low rez example pic


Now the reason for this is pretty simple although slightly hard to explain so bear with me on this

Basically the problem is with how the editor starts up. If it starts up with a small space for the 3D area, its going to have very few pixels in that space and what most people do is stretch that space out more to try and see better but all you do by stretching the view is you stretch the pixels since the resolution of the 3D area dosen't change after you have started the mod.

Now encase you dont understand what I'm talking about excatly I'll try and explain it a little more with pics. Here is my editor window just after starting the editor with all the areas labeled and showing the 3D area resolution which is @ 1072x700 in a 1086x700 pixel space, so right now its pixel ratio of almost 1:1



Now if I stretch all my windows out to try and maximise my 3D area space, you will see here that my image dosen't improve, sure its now a bigger area but the grid is all blurey now and it just looks like crap.


This is because we are stretching out 1072x700 over a 1618x868 pixel area, giving the pixel ratio of around 0.7:1 where we want a 1:1 pixel ratio or better really.


Same can apply to shrinking the view but having the opposite effect.


As you can see here I have a pixel ratio of 2:1 and the grid you can see looks nice and crisp now, only problem is the area of working is tiny and no good for working in.



As such, what you want to do is make your 3D area's resolution as high as possible.

You most likley have your editor screen looking something like this as soon as your start your editor up, with a small and pixelated working area like so:


Main problem with the above pic is the 3D area is taller than it is wide, which is the opposite of what we want and why its pixelated when it starts up.



Now to maximise your 3D Area's resolution is pretty simple, all you need to do is drag your boxes into an area you can feel you can work with and then go to "View > Save Layout"
NOTE: The resources window needs to be beside the tweaker bar and both want to be the same width. If one is under the other and you save the layout the layout will save them at a much grater width than you have them set up at and will lower your start resolution.


I would advise you to try and match my setup above if you can as I've fond this work best and when you start up all you need to do is slot the tweaker bar under the recoures bar and drag the two out quickly and your done

Once you have done that, restart your editor and it should all be good


If your someone like me who likes to have there tweaker bar under the resources bar, when doing the "save layout" it will never save it under there I've found (if you find a way let me know ). Instead the best option is to save it in the layout I have above, and then when you start the editor all you need to do is the following each time you start up to get your tweaker bar under the recoures bar and keep the screen rez the same.

1: Startup:


2: move Tweaker bar under resources bar (note, 3d area is now stretched)


3: Drag the bar out to the same place you had it when you start up (I use the object editor bar above the recoures bar to measure it )



Hope this helps

[VapoMan]

So simple, yet so useful thanks

[[R-DEV]​Senshi]

Very helpful indeed. Was trying to trick BF2ed into higher res for quite some time before finding this thread.

Additional note: With RadeonPro (or similar), you can even enforce Antialiasing and Anisotropic Filtering.

Important: Disable API functions (rightclick on profile, "Disable API functions") as the overlays mess with the Direct3D input, usually leading to the Editor crashing right after loading the mod. But everything else is fair game. When I'm making screenshots in the editor now I can easily put on the strongest AA and high AF and get quality very close to ingame shots.

And if you want almost full-size-quality, you always can remove the output dialog below and undock the resources and tweaker bar. Being undocked is saved by the editor, and doing that can give you a bunch more of vertical pixels (which you then also can add on the horizontal). In my case I didn't even need to undock to get a good resolution (1124x928 in the screenshot below). Fairly sufficient for about every screenshot plus it's more comfortable to work without all the jagged edges..