nVidia's FXAA mode (anti-aliasing)

[TheHunter]

NEW improved post process AA - Inject SMAA 1.1 by mrhaandi

Description

Adds "Subpixel Morphological Antialiasing" to an application
Is based on "injectFXAA" (written by "some dude")
Is supposed to work only with directx 9, directx 10, directx 11, x86 applications
May be incompatible with any other form of antialiasing

SMAA is a very efficient GPU-based MLAA implementation, capable of handling subpixel features seamlessly, and featuring an advanced pattern detection & handling mechanism.
http://www.iryoku.com/smaa/


Update notes:

1.1

*Fix: (d3d9) GTA4 AlphaTest issue
*Fix: (d3d9) GTA4 DepthStencil issue


1.0

*Add: SMAA 1x is our enhaced MLAA implementation



In the near future:

SMAA 1x is our enhaced MLAA implementation.
SMAA T2x is temporal SSAA 2x + MLAA.
SMAA S2x is MSAA 2x + MLAA.
SMAA 4x is MLAA + TSSAA 2x + MSAA 2x.

Install
If the game uses DirectX 9, put all files from the d3d9 directory into the directory containing the game executable.
If the game uses DirectX 10/11, put all files from the d3d10 directory into the directory containing the game executable.


Uninstall
Remove the files.


Notes
You may need to run your applications as administrator (required to write the logfile).
Do not use this tool while playing on anti cheat enabled servers (may be detected as a cheating measure)!

Do not mix d3d9 and d3d10 the files.
Install the latest DirectX runtime.
A "log.log" file is created to log behaviour/ bugs. Look inside to get additional information.
If the "log.log" file is not created then you use the wrong "*.dll" or you put it into the wrong directory.
Try to put the files into different directories before saying it doesn't work.

Keys
PAUSE : Enable/Disable SMAA
PRINT SCREEN : Screenshot

NoAA

Inject FXAA

Inject SMAA


Direct download link:
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B-N...0OTM0&hl=en_US



Big tnx MfA for the info
---------------------------------------------------------
_________________________________________________
---------------------------------------------------------



InjectFXAA 10.7b by somedude
http://www.mediafire.com/?vxq2f9aai93rtbc

http://hotfile.com/dl/126721760/6694...ude_10.7z.html


FXAA Post Process Injection >>> extra Tone mapping, Bloom, Gradients,..
http://www.assembla.com/spaces/fxaa-pp-inject/documents

--------------------------------------------------------------

How to use

1.For dx9 game use dx9 files inside dx9 folder, for Dx10/dx11 game then DX10 files inside dx10 folder.

2. Copy all 4 files to game directory
2.1 some games use base folder (by game exe), some bin32.. Well it depends on the game.. Check the log to see if its working.

2.2 To activate it ingame press Pause button (next to scroll lock)

3. To tweak it to your likings first open shader.fx with wordpad (shader.hlsl by dx10), scroll down and you will see these 3 parameters

0.65, //fxaaQualitySubpix (default: 0.75)
0.166, //fxaaQualityEdgeThreshold
0.0833, //fxaaQualityEdgeThresholdMin


what does each value do:
float fxaaQualitySubpix = 0.60; // Default: 0.75 Raise to increase amount of blur (i found the best value between 0.60 - 0.65)
float fxaaQualityEdgeThreshold = 0.166; // Lower the value for more smoothing (can go to low as 0.113)
float fxaaQualityEdgeThresholdMin = 0.0633; // Lower the value for more smoothing (can go low as 0.0312)


fxaaQualityEdgeThresholdMin
// Trims the algorithm from processing darks.
// 0.0833 - upper limit (default, the start of visible unfiltered edges)
// 0.0625 - high quality (faster)
// 0.0312 - visible limit (slower)

3.1 its the same in dx10..


4. Now open sharpen.h with wordpad, its the same in both dx9/dx10.
4.1 Scroll a little and you will see these 2 parameters

#define SharpenEdge 0.15
#define Sharpen_val0 1.5

// pour le sharpen
Set values of the sharpening amount

#define SharpenEdge 0.2 // controls the edge of detection, lower more precise (its ok at ~ 0.12 - 0.15 or more by some, experiment)
#define Sharpen_val0 1.2 //default, higher value sharper filter (its ok up to ~ 1.4-1.5, by some games even 1.6)


________________________________________________

Background story about FXAA

 Click to show spoiler

NVIDIA FXAA

FXAA I

The first version of FXAA, the pixel shader based anti-aliasing method I developed at NVIDIA, is out in the wild.

Can see a screen shot comparison of FXAA on slide 48 of Johan Andersson's DirectX 11 Rendering in Battlefield 3 GDC presentation. There will also be a DX11 SDK sample released soon on the NVIDIA developer page. Game developers who want to check out a mixed DX9/DX11/OpenGL sample pack (includes source and white paper) can email me directly via tfarrar at NVIDIA.


FXAA II - Development

Tried something different with FXAA version two, the algorithm was initially developed and tuned on a NVIDIA Quadro NVS 160M. Note the "M" for mobile actualy stands for "slow". Raw bandwidth, texture, and ROP specs of the NVS 160M are really close to 50% of that of an Xbox 360. But in practice on this laptop, the simplest GL shader which copies a 720p texture to a frame buffer runs at about 40% of what the raw specs say. With the NVS 160M as a less-than-half proxy of a Xbox 360, FXAA version 2's fastest preset runs in around 3.5ms for a 1280x720 frame on the NVS 160M. So all signs point to under 2.0ms on the Xbox 360 for a 720p frame!

Version 2 is in the tuning stages now, building a selection of presets with a full range of quality and performance trade offs across the full line of PC GPUs. I test on a batch of about 25 images, and would like to include more. Feel free to send me a link to a PNG screenshot and it will get used in the tuning process.


FXAA II - Goals

(1.) SCALES - Full performance and quality scaling from the low to the high end. Use the same code on console and PC and it just works. Can adaptively adjust FXAA cost at run-time for adaptive frame-rate control.

(2.) QUALITY - High-end quality of II is a tiny better than FXAA I, low-end quality is remarkably better.

(3.) BETTER FXAA+MSAA - Attempting to provide better quality when mixing with MSAA or another AA method. For example 2xMSAA for better sub pixel features + FXAA for better edge gradients.

Will be posting screens and stuff once finished.


Why FXAA

Wanted something which handles sub-pixel aliasing better than MLAA, something which didn't require compute, something which runs on DX9 level hardware, and something which runs in a single full-screen pixel shader pass. Basically the simplest and easiest thing to integrate and use.


FXAA Limits

Johan Andersson had a great way of describing this, MLAA like methods snap features to pixels. There is no sub-pixel information as input to these kind of post filters. FXAA does however detect and reduce the contrast of sub-pixel features so the pixel snapping is less visibly distracting. FXAA is by default tuned to be mild. Optionally turning this sub-pixel contrast reduction filter all the way up can reduce the detail in the image, but result in a more "movie" like experience.

What about surface normal aliasing?

Typically rough and detailed normal textures filter into a flat surface, often keeping a strong amount of specular reflection. Combine this with a rapidly changing triangle surface normal of small pixel or sub-pixel sized features, and horrid shader normal aliasing will result! FXAA's sub-pixel contrast reduction filter can only help a little in this situation, normal aliasing tends to flicker temporally, which is the primary artifact seen by the viewer. NVIDIA's Endless City Demo (which uses an early version of FXAA) is a good example of this: combining a high amount of finely tessellated features and application of a simple environment map, Combining techniques?

Marc Olano's and Dan Baker's CLEAN (GDC 2011) and LEAN mapping is a solution for texture based normal aliasing, but requires high precision textures. Andreas Schilling's paper describes a less expensive and lower quality method of roughness maps.

With deferred shading, DX9 and PS3 have another aliasing problem caused by 2x2 pixel quads sharing a LOD value during texture fetch. This is talked about in Aras's Screenspace vs Mip-Mapping blog post. From my understanding, forcing hardware to respect per-pixel specified LOD was a DX10 feature.

One possibility of targeting normal aliasing, which I have not explored yet, is to take a modified version of the FXAA sub-pixel aliasing filter, and pre-process the G-buffer. Take normal as input, and write a "roughness" value as output. This "roughness" value would be used to make environment map reflections go more diffuse, reduce specular highlights, and decrease specular exponent.


FXAA III - Future

Tried and exhausted all the purely spacial methods for post-processing AA filtering that I could come up with, however spacial+temporal is on the list of things to try in the future...

http://timothylottes.*************/20...idia-fxaa.html

Update: 3.11

 Click to show spoiler

"... as for the next release, not sure when, probably not for a while, I'm really busy right now on other projects ..."

That comment was just yesterday, and actually I'm serious this time, likely not going to update for a while, but had to at least incorporate all the great suggestions I've been getting from developers, hence the FXAA 3.11 release.


FXAA Now Supports Using Green Instead of Luma

#define FXAA_GREEN_AS_LUMA 1

And massively lower the following inputs towards zero (or set to zero),

FxaaFloat fxaaQualityEdgeThresholdMin,
FxaaFloat fxaaConsoleEdgeThresholdMin,

This define enables developers to avoid packing luma into the alpha channel when processing non-linear RGB data. The compromise here is that colors which lack any green (like pure blues, reds, or just a mix of blues and reds) will not get any AA. This is likely ok, because often these blues and reds border something which has a non-zero green channel so at least one side will get AA, and pure hues are often rare in practice.

A second compromise is that the early exit path will be less effective since the min threshold will have to be lowered in order to insure AA is not turned off on colors which contain only a very minor amount of green.



Cleaned up FxaaPixelShader() Inputs and Tuning Knobs

Unified the inputs to all version of the shaders so that integration is easier. For those not using all the shaders, simply use zeros when inputs are not needed. Look on line 721 in the source for all the input docs (or see below).

All the major tuning knobs, with the exception of 2 PS3 settings and FXAA_QUALITY__PRESET, are now shader inputs instead of defines as they were in the last version.

Note, the constants used for FXAA Console are now different (they now match the needs of the optimized 360 version) so some C code will need to change when integrating FXAA 3.11...

http://timothylottes.*************/20...-released.html

3.9

 Click to show spoiler

NVIDIA FXAA 3.9 Released
(1.) Fixed FXAA Quality artifact problems.
(2.) Some FXAA Quaility optimizations targeting NVIDIA cards.
(3.) New prototype optimized 360 version of FXAA Console.

Download FXAA 3.9 Shader Source Code


FXAA Quality Algorithm Quality Improvements

There are a few image quality improvements in FXAA 3.9 for specific cases where FXAA 3.8 had problems. Here is one subtle example, FXAA 3.9 is better on already AA'ed thin features which transition between vertical to diagonal to horizontal. FXAA 3.8 has more distortion in these cases. See the area around the ring below.



FXAA 3.9 Performance

With FXAA 3.9's new quality improvements, performance should be similar to FXAA 3.8, with the exception of increased performance on some NVIDIA cards. For example, FXAA 3.9 on GTX 480 is about 24% faster than FXAA 3.8. A 720p frame on GTX480 can now be processed in 0.21 ms (actual timing depends slightly on the image). More importantly for lower end cards:

$113 GTX 550ti 1920x1200 @ 1.3 ms
$88 GTS 450 1680x1050 @ 1.1 ms


The Quality version of the algorithm now runs on low-end NVIDIA cards at higher resolutions faster than the Console version of the algorithm on PS3 at 1280x720.

FXAA on DX11 and GL is slightly faster than DX9 (due to gather4), numbers above represent GL.

http://timothylottes.*************/20...-released.html

source code link:
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B2m...mODEx&hl=en_US

[setya5785]

latest forceware already had fxaa, just hidden.
you can activate fxaa in game profile using 3rd party app such as nvidia inspector
though i'm not sure which fxaa included.

[TheHunter]

^
I know about that (i think its since r275) and its openGL only (and buggy). But this stuff is for all dx9, dx10, dx11 and openGL, although it looks like its still in bandages.



Well then there is also this:

SRAA (Subpixel Reconstruction Anti-Aliasing): NVIDIA’s reply to AMD’s MLAA

Subpixel Reconstruction Antialiasing (SRAA) combines single-pixel (1x) shading with subpixel visibility to create antialiased images without increasing the shading cost. SRAA targets deferred-shading renderers, which cannot use multisample antialiasing. SRAA operates as a post-process on a rendered image with superresolution depth and normal buffers, so it can be incorporated into an existing renderer without modifying the shaders. In this way SRAA resembles Morphological Antialiasing (MLAA), but the new algorithm can better respect geometric boundaries and has fixed runtime independent of scene and image complexity. SRAA benefits shading-bound applications. For example, our implementation evaluates SRAA in 1.8 ms (1280×720) to yield antialiasing quality comparable to 4-16x shading. Thus SRAA would produce a net speedup over supersampling for applications that spend 1 ms or more on shading; for comparison, most modern games spend 5-10 ms shading. We also describe simplifications that increase performance by reducing quality.

http://www.geeks3d.com/20110129/sraa...-to-amds-mlaa/


so now im not 100% which is the real deal, but it might be FXAA since its already "available" in openGL apps.

[CalinTM]

What this FXAA do ?

[yosef019]

Can you show me how apply fxaa in games?
And what dx 9 10 11? Is work with fxaa

[TheHunter]

idk yet, there is a source code 64kb fxaa file.


i had a flash maybe i could somehow inject it into driver but guess its not possible yet..

What this FXAA do ?

its post process AA, what do you think it will do?

*hint* it will apply aa where its not possible, like GTA4, etc.

[DirkGently]

FXAA has to be implemented in game. It's not something that can be forced through driver settings like MLAA.

It can be used by both Nvidia and AMD though so it's vendor agnostic.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/...ing_technology

[Anarion]

I hope that they implement it officially in next drivers.

Originally Posted by DirkGently

FXAA has to be implemented in game. It's not something that can be forced through driver settings like MLAA.

It can be used by both Nvidia and AMD though so it's vendor agnostic.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/...ing_technology

No. It's post processing filter. You can slap it even on static images. You forgot that it's already partially implemented in the drivers already. I don't know why they say otherwise in that article.

SRAA however is different story.

[rewt]

Crysis 2 uses FXAA (in DX9 & 11 - combined with Cryteks Post MSAA method). It can be toggled on and off using r_PostMSAAEdgeFilterNV 0/1

[Sajittarius]

the source code is a C file and inside it it says you can call it from a shader.

I know a while back they had a program d3doverrider(?) that you could use to force a program to use a custom shader... not sure if it works with new drivers or how to make a custom shader that calls this C module though.

[SirPauly]

Originally Posted by DirkGently

FXAA has to be implemented in game. It's not something that can be forced through driver settings like MLAA.

It can be used by both Nvidia and AMD though so it's vendor agnostic.

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/...ing_technology

Not exactly! It already can be forced in OpenGL.

Believe that FXAA will be offered globally and here is the evidence:

This was first offered from a poster named JackFuste at Rage:

Antialiasing - FXAA

FXAA is a fast shader-based post-processing technique that can be applied to any program, including those which do not support other forms of hardware-based antialiasing. FXAA can be used in conjunction with other antialiasing settings to improve overall image quality. Note that enabling this setting globally may affect all programs rendered on the GPU, including video players and the Windows desktop.

• Turn FXAA on to improve image quality with a lesser performance impact than other antialiasing settings.

• Turn FXAA off if you notice artifacts or dithering around the edges of objects, particularly around text.

Then this poster -- Guzz -- offers how to enable the FXAA setting in the Control Panel and offers a screen shot, with the setting and the above data as the description:

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?s...&#entry1248230

[dchalf10]

Originally Posted by calin05

What this FXAA do ?

It makes games look like a blurry mess. Just like MLAA.

[Sajittarius]

Originally Posted by dchalf10

It makes games look like a blurry mess. Just like MLAA.

Yea FXAA in Duke Nukem Forever was kinda crappy, i personally think it should be applied on top of supersampling to look decent.

[erm]

in F3AR is not so bad, and the performances are not affected much.

[rewt]

Originally Posted by Sajittarius

Yea FXAA in Duke Nukem Forever was kinda crappy, i personally think it should be applied on top of supersampling to look decent.

Supersampling is already blurry. You want to blur it even more?

[TheHunter]

^
yea that's why i don't use TrAA SSAA - to blurry, std. multi sampling is much better, of course it doesn't eliminate all that shimmering but i would pick sharpness over blurriness anytime

Originally Posted by erm

in F3AR is not so bad, and the performances are not affected much.

imo its bad, i settled with 2xmsaa over FXAA and it looks the same if not better with sharper picture.. as you know 4xmsaa has some weird issues and can slow down to mid 40ish fps..



also to note this new 3.9 FXAA has sharper filtering technique. So guess they're improving it a bit.

[isidore]

i hated mlaa, and i think i'll hate this fxaa if it behaves the same..

[ThEcLiT]

u can try and experience fxaa at latest nvidia sdk (not sure what is latest sdk version)
http://www.geeks3d.com/20110406/nvid...ect3d-11-only/

[DarkTerror]

Originally Posted by rewt

Supersampling is already blurry. You want to blur it even more?

[rewt]

With supersampling, every pixel on the screen is an average color of multiple sub-samples, which causes blur.

Contrast this to multisampling where only the edges of polygons are effectively blurred. Textures remain perfectly sharp.

[DarkTerror]

Originally Posted by rewt

With supersampling, every pixel on the screen is an average color of multiple sub-samples, which causes blur.

Contrast this to multisampling where only the edges of polygons are effectively blurred. Textures remain perfectly sharp.

If the textures are high res than the games res its never going to make a difference unless your playing a ancient game. Doom 3 supersampling makes a massive difference. You can try it out for yourself. SS is always superior or try with Metro 2033 which has very high res textures.

[rewt]

A texture is a texture. Supersampling will blur it.

Originally Posted by DarkTerror

SS is always superior.

at killing performance.

[Turdhat]

I am pretty sure aa flag 0x000010c1 clears up blur when you use Sparse Grid Super Sampling. Since this type of aa has a bug it works like regular super sampling as far as its effect on aliasing and comes with the same performance hit. There is a thread over at the nvidia forums about this with images that show this aa flag, when used with nvinspector kills the blur.


Edit: Here is the link, the setup info and images.

I would like to clarify Problem again the SGSSAA Blur on the Basis of Screenshots and I hope that Nvidia a better SGSSAA Mode in the Driver integrated here, prevents the Blur!
It is currently possible with the help of AA Bits to eliminate the Blur, this works very well on Singlecards, but not always with SLI. Therefore, it would be better if NVIDIA would include a "new" SGSSAA Modus.

With this "0x000010C1" AA Bits can eliminate Blur from SGSSAA:

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?s...&#entry1220253

[dchalf10]

Originally Posted by DarkTerror

If the textures are high res than the games res its never going to make a difference unless your playing a ancient game. Doom 3 supersampling makes a massive difference. You can try it out for yourself. SS is always superior or try with Metro 2033 which has very high res textures.

Sorry dude but you're wrong.

SS does blur the screen. Try it in ME2, it has noticeable blur with SSAA.

So it's a tossup between crisp colour wise or aliasing wise really.

The problem with FXAA is that it blurs the image too; but to a much larger degree and it still doesn't get rid of aliasing as good as 4msaa.

So it's just another cheap trick for the console crowd I guess.

[rewt]

Originally Posted by Turdhat

I am pretty sure aa flag 0x000010c1 clears up blur when you use Sparse Grid Super Sampling.

Yes, it does help a little, but it doesn't completely eliminate blur. I've already done comparisons, and multisampling still produces a sharper image at much better performance (in games where either method can be applied).

This is not to say that I don't use supersampling myself on occasion.