[MSFS] HOW TO FIX SHADOWS IN MSFS / 4K SHADOWS | Tutorial

HOW TO FIX SHADOWS IN MSFS / 4K SHADOWS by Runway in Sight Aviation!
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➡️ TIMESTAMPS
00:00​ Intro
00:20 Default Shadow Settings
01:28​ 4K Shadows Set Up in UserCfg.opt
02:57 4K Shadows Test
03:22 4K and 2K Shadows Comparison
04:19 Performance, Conclusion and Outro
➡️ SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitch: / rwyinsight
➡️ GEAR
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
GPU: MSI GeForce RTX 3080 VENTUS 3X PLUS 10GB OC LHR
RAM: Kingston FURY 32GB KIT DDR4 3200MHz CL16 Beast Black
MBU: MSI MAG B550 TOMAHAWK
Drive: Samsung 980 1TB, Patriot Burst SSD 960GB (2x)
Case: NZXT H710i Matte White

[@benjaminh4290]

looks a lot better, thank you for sharing this !!

[@rwyinsight]

Happy to help 😇

[@IslandSimPilot]

Going to try this, thanks for sharing!

[@Mewious_]

2k shadows are amazing for what this game is , it has the ENTIRE world, there is a thing called *floating point precision error* which causes some flickers in the rendering engine, they could def improve since the game came out in 2020, but that would be really hard due to the floating point error i said prior

[@generico896]

That's amazing!

[@philipkershaw7918]

Good info. Thanks.

[@deltak5457]

Btw. you can also easily use up to 8k shadow maps (8192) - in comparison to basically all other textures the impact is rather small on performance, yet the outcome is pretty great as even the smallest switches generate a nice shadow. Larger maps than 8k are however not possible it seems as the value defaults back to 2k on load when trying to go further.

[@rwyinsight]

Hello, thanks for bringing this up. I tried to go all the way up to 8K back in the day but had some weird issues in the menu (extremely low FPS) and the simulator was pretty much unusable. That is why I left it out of this video.

[@deltak5457]

@@rwyinsight strange, I pretty much did never encounter something like this so it might be an issue on certain hardware configurations. On my system I basically use 8k on shadows since 2021 constantly while rendering 1440p+ (DLAA).

[@rwyinsight]

@@deltak5457 I am rendering at 1440p as well and had issues with it before. So It must depend on hardware setup. Not sure what could be the case otherwise.

[@deltak5457]

@@rwyinsight might be worth giving it another shot - maybe it helps if you clean your caches first (like DX cache and the usual MSFS caches), then doing the change and then starting MSFS.

[@danielpena-un8vl]

how much VRAM does it consume 8k VS 4K?

[@Thom518]

Thank you for these advices. On which airport do you land at the end of the video ? It seems very nice, especially the runway. It is a payware one ?

[@rwyinsight]

Thank you! It is Václav Havel Airport Prague, scenery by Tailstrike Designs.

[@adrianubiaga5695]

Hello! Thank you for the video! I really like your cockpit textures giving it an older image. How did you do it? Thank you!

[@rwyinsight]

Hello! I am glad you enjoyed the video. The textures you are talking about are the PMDG 737 Wear and Tear Textures by Celthyan. You can find them at flightsim.to 😊

[@dominikraith1871]

Nice video!! 😊 Can you show the rest of your settings, like the bottom graphics settings, data, traffic. Your nvidia control panel settings and if you use other shaders, wich one please?

[@rwyinsight]

Thank you! I will record a brand new video covering all my flight sim settings and setup in the very near future. Stay tuned! 😉

[@dominikraith1871]

@@rwyinsight thanks for the info, let me know when it's out buddy!😉

[@danielpena-un8vl]

this is great! i had no idea you could actually go pass the default resolution on the shadows. My only question would be how this affects all other objects besides your own aircraft? is this only for your own aircraft or is this a global setting? many thanks!

[@rwyinsight]

Thank you. I am not entirely sure about this because it is really hard to spot any differences on exterior shadows. It is more about the detailed edges in the cockpit. Since I have not experienced any significant loss of performance, my bet is that it only applies to your aircraft.

[@matsbrandsegg9604]

I have noticed one thing. I just started a flight now and I don’t want to delete it and restart the sim, but I put shadow maps on 4096 and the ground markings are almost washed out on grey’s. The only thing that guides me are the taxi marking lights. This is when it’s overcast. I don’t know if it was this fix which did it.. have other experienced the same? I also use the in-game NVIDIA filters.

[@rwyinsight]

Blurry or washed out ground markings are usually cause by anisotropic filtering. Try setting it to a higher value in the simulator or in the NVIDIA Control Panel. For details, check my Ultimate 2024 Settings Guide video. Thanks 😉

[@Freeway7]

So for VR you have to set it ALSO just a bit under this one !

[@yams900]

Excellent work my friend ! Can I configure 8K :) ? Would this make any difference to FPS ? Many thx !

[@rwyinsight]

Thank you! I tried to go all the way up to 8K back in the day when I first found out that you can actually edit shadows via your UserCfg but had extremely low FPS in the menu and the simulator was pretty much unusable at that point. That is why I left it out of this video.

[@alheeley]

After I edit the cfg file, if I touch the shadows settings in game (eg: set back to 2k) i lose the option to revert to 4k unless i go back in and edit the cfg. Is that right?

[@rwyinsight]

Hello, that is correct.

[@larsrosing5033]

On the other hand, the shadow on the ground when flying is equally unrealistic. Can you change that also??

[@rwyinsight]

Will have a look into that. 😉

[@CTRBvideos]

Hey quick question, would doing this drastically affect FPS? I'm sorry im not able to listen to the video right now. But i want to do this when im able to.

[@rwyinsight]

Hello, I haven't experienced any significant loss of performance. Please check my PC specs in the description. Thanks 🙏

[@CTRBvideos]

@@rwyinsight Alright thank you

[@erikhany4486]

Will this work if you change the shadow settings in the VR settings in the config file? Not changing the PC settings, just the VR settings?

[@rwyinsight]

@@erikhany4486 Hello, I do not have a VR set so I can’t tell.

[@erikhany4486]

Well, I tried this. Went into the config-file and changed shadows. In the VR settings, not the 2d-settings, since I fly in VR. The sim crashed after a few minutes. I tried again, but another crash. Then back to my previous settings, and the sim works fine. So this might work in 2D, but on my system (i9-14900K, 4090 Suprime X) it was no chance.

[@rwyinsight]

I am sorry to hear that. I do not have a VR set so I can’t really help you with that. However others are also trying to run 4K shadows in VR so please go through the comments and see if you can find any help there. Thanks

[@Dziugas12345]

Late response, I saw a comment under yours saying 'So for VR you have to set it a little lower' (4000, or something from my understanding)

[@rwyinsight]

@@Dziugas12345 That is correct, there are two separate sections for shadows in the .cfg file. You need to scroll down or use the find feature in order to find the other one. Then just set it to 4096 as well.

[@daveyoung2056]

Hi, I tried this and the 4090 was not in the options, and I saved the settings after unchecking read only , then back to read only ?

[@rwyinsight]

Hello, you need to change the size to 4096 and after saving switch back to read only indeed.

[@daveyoung2056]

@@rwyinsight yes, I’ve tried that, does the monitor need to be 4k ?

[@rwyinsight]

@@daveyoung2056 No, I am using a 1440p screen for example.

[@daveyoung2056]

Very odd I can’t change it

[@Gameplaiimaker]

@@daveyoung2056Make sure you got {Graphics Version 1.1.0 Preset Custom "Custom" on top of the file! Not high or Ultra or something in your userCfg file

[@alexsollalemos5181]

Is there a trick like this to increase the resolution of just the 737 PFDs? Thank you.

[@rwyinsight]

Hello, that is a PMDG specific question. You would have to dive into the PMDG files and code. Not sure how that works tbh. I can give it a go in a few days time.

[@alexsollalemos5181]

Thank you@@rwyinsight

[@nickdesai6829]

Ok to do this with a 2k monitor?

[@rwyinsight]

Yes! I’m using 1440p resolution. 😇

[@Glider324]

Wonder how this goes for performance in vr?

[@rwyinsight]

Hello, I haven't tested the 4K shadows in VR since I don't own a VR set so I can't help you with that unfortunately. If you could test that and give us feedback it would be very much appreciated!

[@ricardostus2498]

Drop a lot

[@chrisstrobel3439]

I followed this tutorial exactly and MSFS just changes it back to 2048 max resolution as soon as I start the sim🙁

[@rwyinsight]

Hello, that is really weird. Did you save the UserCfg file after changing the shadow resolution?

[@RobertoMandrile]

modify the file, save, properties and flag Only read option

[@chrisstrobel3439]

@@RobertoMandrile Ah ha! That must be it .. will give er a try next time I fire up MSFS .. thanks Roberto 🙂👍

[@paulsleighty]

How much does this impact fps in the sim please

[@rwyinsight]

It is mentioned in the video 😉. Go to the Performance part of the video please for more information.

[@ricardostus2498]

A lot, if you use VR

[@rwyinsight]

I do not have a VR set so can’t tell you much about performance there.

[@paulsleighty]

@@ricardostus2498 thanks, yes I only fly in vr since getting a headset head tracking in 2D is pants in comparison.

[@SpidaMez]

This video is way too underrated. Shadows in msfs are absolutely garbage default, idk why asobo never addressed that

[@rwyinsight]

Thank you! You are absolutely right, I personally can’t stand the default shadows and hope this video will help others make them a lot better. 😉

[@chrisstrobel3439]

Yep the shadows flickering and bubbling on the instrument panel when it’s sunny are so much garbage that I refuse to even use the sim in those conditions, I personally only fly MSFS at dusk into night, or in IMC conditions during the day. All the greatest scenery in the world means nothing if I gotta stare at those flickering panel shadows the whole flight.

[@lcsnaro]

@@chrisstrobel3439 hahaha really??? you don't fly a simulator because of its shadows?

[@chrisstrobel3439]

@@lcsnaro When those shadows are dancing around .. gurgling .. bubbling .. flickering right smack dab in front of me on my instrument panel which is being displayed on my 50” 4k OLED monitor that I’m sitting 3ft away from .. no I don’t fly, it’s just not me either, I’ve talked to quite a few other virtual pilots that feel the same way. The only way I can fly MSFS 2020 is when the sun isn’t shining directly through the cockpit windows, so for me that means flying either directly into the sun, at dusk/night, IMC, or scud running.

[@PowerAirSimulations]

I did exactly what was done in the video but the shadows are still at 2048

[@rwyinsight]

Hello, are you using VR?

[@PowerAirSimulations]

No, I’m not using any VR. They even try to put the checkmark in, but I only get the option for 2048.

[@rwyinsight]

Did you save the file before closing? It is also important to point out that you can’t select any settings preset from the settings or to change the shadows from 4K to any other option. You would have to go back to the .cfg file and edit it again.

[@c.am7777]

It didn’t work why…

[@lionhellll]

I tried it... at the beginning I thought it was really good ! Effectively shadows in the cockpit were great ! But... to all flights after this tweak, I got mega stutters on final ! At any flight ! The last, after 2 hours of flight FPS 1 or 2 then plane crashed. IT WAS UNPLAYABLE !!!! I reverted to previous setting.

[@rwyinsight]

Hello, that is really weird and sounds like a cache issue rather than shadows. Try clearing your rolling cache and give it another go. Sorry for any inconvenience but it has worked wonders for most of us so far.

[@lionhellll]

OK I try again@@rwyinsight

[@PepuDrummer527]

I have mine set up at 8k

[@Dziugas12345]

Doesn't work anymore sadly

[@rwyinsight]

Still works for me 😉.

[@totruav0015]

Why not. Works for me like a charm