Does order of effects matter?

  • eggsandwich
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4 years 10 months ago - 4 years 10 months ago #1 by eggsandwich Does order of effects matter? was created by eggsandwich
Hello gang.

I am adding heavy FXAA and LumaSharpen to GTA V. It looks good. And I am adding in the order of FXAA first then LS. Does adding these effects in any order make any difference? I may also add SMAA. Can I just add the SMAA over what I already have? Or like I say, should there be some kind of order?

Thanks in advance.
Last edit: 4 years 10 months ago by eggsandwich. Reason: Grammar.

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  • Uncle Crassius
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4 years 10 months ago #2 by Uncle Crassius Replied by Uncle Crassius on topic Does order of effects matter?
The order definitely matters. FXAA first and sharpen seconds sounds correct and yes, you can add SMAA on top, though I wonder if it's necessary. You can always just try stuff out or just change the order by dragging and dropping which you probably know but just in case.
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  • Duran.te
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4 years 10 months ago - 4 years 10 months ago #3 by Duran.te Replied by Duran.te on topic Does order of effects matter?
Yup.
Each shader affects every overlying effects.

Here you can see what happens when load order is ignored:
(In this case, MXAO placed below Adaptive Fog causes a graphical issue)



About you anti aliasing question, maybe this topic can come in handy:
reshade.me/forum/shader-troubleshooting/...reset-commands#30503
Last edit: 4 years 10 months ago by Duran.te.
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  • eggsandwich
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4 years 10 months ago #4 by eggsandwich Replied by eggsandwich on topic Does order of effects matter?
Thanks.

I may also add some Gaussian Blur just to smooth things out. What order would that come?

Thanks.

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  • Duran.te
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4 years 10 months ago #5 by Duran.te Replied by Duran.te on topic Does order of effects matter?
Gaussian Blur is not much really for smoothing things out, it's more for... blurring. Moreover, it doesn't makes much sense to sharpen an image and then apply an overall blurriness.
A good use of Gaussian Blur could be apply it along with UI Mask to create a vignette blur effect, like the one in Rise of the Tomb Raider.
But if you still wanna use it anyway, just load it after the other shaders you applied.
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  • eggsandwich
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4 years 10 months ago #6 by eggsandwich Replied by eggsandwich on topic Does order of effects matter?
UI mask? Hmm what does this do? Also I noticed there are two to choose from. Top and bottom.

Many thanks.

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  • Duran.te
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4 years 10 months ago - 4 years 10 months ago #7 by Duran.te Replied by Duran.te on topic Does order of effects matter?
They work exactly the same way as photoshop's masks: they hide informations from an image.
Here's a comparison of Ryuken's shot with and without a vignette mask on gaussian blur effect on photoshop.



Reshade's shader is called UI Mask cause it was intended to mask UI elements of the games, so that other shaders don't affect them, but no one's stopping you in using them in other ways.
Some examples could be the previously mentioned vignette blur, another one could be simulating shaders opacity.
From my Easy Troubleshooting guide:

Warning: Spoiler!


More on UI mask: reshade.me/forum/shader-presentation/300...uimask-for-3-0#21119
Last edit: 4 years 10 months ago by Duran.te.
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  • Viper_Joe
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4 years 10 months ago #8 by Viper_Joe Replied by Viper_Joe on topic Does order of effects matter?

Duran.te wrote: Gaussian Blur is not much really for smoothing things out, it's more for... blurring. Moreover, it doesn't makes much sense to sharpen an image and then apply an overall blurriness.


I respectfully disagree; the Gaussian Blur shader is actually fantastic for smoothing when used in small amounts (not exceeding 0.37) from my experience. It gives an ethereal—and, dare I say it, cinematic—look to games that I didn't realize was missing until I started using it.
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  • eggsandwich
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4 years 10 months ago - 4 years 10 months ago #9 by eggsandwich Replied by eggsandwich on topic Does order of effects matter?
Thanks.

So could I add ui mask top then bottom. Then maybe the gaussian blur afterwards in that order? Or instead of the blur the FXAA third? Would that work? Or should it be ui mask top first then FXAA or blur then ui bottom last?

Thanks.

I also like the surface blur. Seems to get rid of the visual noise.
Last edit: 4 years 10 months ago by eggsandwich.

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  • Martigen
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4 years 10 months ago #10 by Martigen Replied by Martigen on topic Does order of effects matter?

Duran.te wrote: Gaussian Blur is not much really for smoothing things out, it's more for... blurring. Moreover, it doesn't makes much sense to sharpen an image and then apply an overall blurriness.

The opposite is worth doing though. Using Gaussian Blur can greatly smooth out visual artifacts, from aliasing through to specular noise, after which you then apply a sharpening filter to bring out and restore key edges and details (adaptive sharp works well for this). I do this with a couple of games, and the result is a cleaner, clearer image.
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  • eggsandwich
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4 years 10 months ago #11 by eggsandwich Replied by eggsandwich on topic Does order of effects matter?
Interesting.

While we are here, can anyone tell me what the white flashing textures are in this video? Is it possibly something to do with AA?


I'm trying to work out how he makes his graphics look so good. No doubt he is using Reshade. But I have no idea what his settings are? I'm guessing the white flashes may be something to do with the setting?

Many thanks in advance.

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  • jas01
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4 years 10 months ago - 4 years 10 months ago #12 by jas01 Replied by jas01 on topic Does order of effects matter?
Of course it does.

My fav:
Fixed levels and colors
SMAA
FXAA
MXAO
Additional (more agressive or unnatural) color filters
Blur shaders (if needed)
Deband
Sharpen
Adaptive fog
Light Adaption
Bloom & Other lighting shaders
Vignette (darkening)
Grain

Avoid sharpering before using any good AA and putting MXAO after bloom. You should sharpen your image before using any stronger bloom, adaptive fog or anyting that can hide some of your details (light and fog should stay soft).
Last edit: 4 years 10 months ago by jas01. Reason: ..
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