Landscape day/night images

[Astrobobo]

Hello,

I'm trying to make a custom landscape with different day and night images. I can only find the maptex and maptex_illum options for the .ini file, but I think the illum option is an overlay for the main landscape. Is there any way to make the day/night transition to a completely different landscape image?

[alex-w]

No, currently it’s not possible

[Astrobobo]

That's what I suspected, thanks. Would it be possible to add this functionality in the future? It seems like a simple tweak.

[gzotti]

The maptex_illum is just a texture added during twilight. By design, it can be a night panorama from the same spot. If you blend over another daylight image, it will technically work but look weird. The maptex remains, (almost) unilluminated.

If you need to softly fade from one to the next, preload them into the landscape cache, then loading will be a smooth fade. See https://stellarium.org/doc/26.0/classLandscapeMgr.html#a4cac66cee31a92722588830f9cd98f4a

[Astrobobo]

Yes, I got it that it's just an illumination effect...this works fine for distant lights, but not for urban or suburban locations. For example, I would like to make a landscape from our local observatory that's near the city center.

[gzotti]

It was created for that...

[Astrobobo]

Sorry, I don't understand, what was created for what? When I use a photo taken during night I get the photo overlayed on the original photo and landscape is too bright.

[gzotti]

The illumination layer was created for the effect of adding light pollution to show its adverse effect. The daylight image is retained, dimmed but illuminated by a user controlled "minimum brightness" setting. Both photographs are linked to the Landscape's Location, which is why we don't mix fundamentally different panoramas taken at different locations, and have no intention to do so.

[Astrobobo]

Ah, I see now, when I reread my first post I see how I definitely didn't write it correctly! I meant to use a day and a night photo from the same location. Those are two different photos, not locations. I was waiting for an hour and half on the same spot with my Theta Z1 :)

[Astrobobo]

Sorry for the delay, here are the examples. The night photo was taken while there was still some light.

[gzotti]

If your night photo is too bright, use your image editor to make it darker.
In GIMP (or a similar expensive commercial product), show daylight image, 90% opaque black layer, and night layer. Modify night layer until it's not too bright. Re-export night layer.

[Astrobobo]

If your night photo is too bright, use your image editor to make it darker. In GIMP (or a similar expensive commercial product), show daylight image, 90% opaque black layer, and night layer. Modify night layer until it's not too bright. Re-export night layer.

But why? Wouldn't it be much easier to have the option to use a normal separate photo for nighttime?

[gzotti]

No. Adapt your workflow to a long-standing program feature. Edit your night photo: 5 minutes of your time.

[Astrobobo]

No. Adapt your workflow to a long-standing program feature. Edit your night photo: 5 minutes of your time.

I don't see the need to be rude. The method you mention does not work for me, this is why I posted the question. No, the 5 minute curve does not work, the result is still unnatural. It took me over an hour playing with masks to isolate only the parts that are illuminated by streetlights. What does it mean to you if a user would like a feature that would probably take 5 minutes to implement?