So i've made a few changes to my SKYRIM.INI as many have and I've noticed that I have this weird problem now where if i'm looking at the trees, they wont sway or move. However, if i look high enough, or low enough I can see that they start to move again.

Sometimes they move perfectly fine. But most the time they don't move if I'm looking straight ahead. Its a really annoying problem.

Anyone find a way around this and still be able to keep shadow draw distances pushed back, etc.?

According to some people I have heard, the game turns the animation off to save FPS. It does it automatically, once the framerate sinks under a specific number.

Delete your INI files and load the game. It should fix it. Then mess with your INI settings maybe 3-4 things at a time, and you should be able to narrow down which setting caused the problem.

EDIT: @ Sarmatian, that's the first I've heard of that. Interesting idea, and could be the cause/reason.

For computers with less processing/graphics/memory power, the game turns off even more features and details, regardless of any .ini settings. We can also force the game to display more stuff through the .ini files, but then the game responds to the new instructions by turning off various things we didn't or cannot change. Sometimes if there is too much stuff, it will just CTD.

This set of codes might be responsible, or perhaps there are others we can't see:

fProcessListsUpdateHighFrameRate=30.0000fProcessListsUpdateLowFrameRate=10.0000fProcessListsUpdateTimeMin=0.5000fProcessListsUpdateTimeMax=5.0000iLowProcessingMilliseconds=2

That is true. It is around 30 fps. This is to keep your FPS from getting too low.
I also think the game does the same with draw distances (that when you have low FPS, things pop up closer to you to draw less).

My problem with trees swaying is slightly different. If I look one direction, the trees are swaying right in front of me and all around me. If I turn to face another direction, they all stop swaying everywhere, including the ones that were right in front of me that are now to the side. My FPS remains steady above 45 up to 60. So I can't imagine it's the game executing "disable tree animation" functions or anything to preserve FPS for me.

Just weird... and immersion breaking.

-RMWChaos

Maybe it's not tied to 30 fps but rather a certain percantage of your regular FPS, so it could be 45 for you?
Looking towards the sky should always make the trees sway - always 60 fps then.

I've had this very same problem, and found out what was causing it.
I issued a saveini command in the console and didn't find out for quite some time the file was recreated in the Skyrim/Data folder in Steam/SteamApps.
This file was somehow conflicting with Skyrim.ini in MyDocuments.
After deleting Skyrim.ini in the Skyrim/Data folder mentioned above, the problem was solved and trees were swaying like before.
Hope it helps you as well.

Now I wish it was that simple for me. I did the saveini command, too, because I wanted to browse through all the options. Didn't see it in the \Data folder, but I did see a Skyrimperfs.ini in the \Skyrim\Skyrim directory, which I swear was not there before - the whole folder - that's right, \Skyrim\Skyrim. Really? I got the red dragon at this point, as well, so I moved the Skyrimperfs.ini to another folder to look at it, but the next time I ran Skyrim, Steam said a file was missing and recreated the default Skyrimperfs.ini in the \Skyrim\Skyrim folder again. Now what the heck? Oh well. At least I know where it is, and I know that it overrides the Skyrimperfs.ini file in My Games.

SAVEINI will dump Fallout's old INI, not Skyrims INI.
SAVEINI is not a Skyrim command. The INI it creates is NOT compatible with the game. It has options and functions that are no longer used, and some crash or cause other issues, with the listed values. Specifically related to physics, and effects with LOD levels. It even says "FALLOUT" as one of the folder locations. That should have been every-one's clue that it was not an INI for this game. This is NOT the fallout engine, it is a creation made from that engine. It is the Skyrim engine. LOL. (Still Oblivion.)

Expecting the fallout INI settings to work in Skyrim, is like expecting Win95 commands to work in Win-7... Sure, some may work, some may not break, others will be ignored, and many will just crash the programs.

Everyone rushed out with hacks, and attempted to look like they knew what they were talking about, and to be the first to publish this stuff... Without actually testing anything, or knowing what it was actually doing.
(Not all, but many. Anyone who ever instructed you to type SAVEINI, and use that file...)

Perfect proof to show that the INI is NOT valid, besides your screen turning red...
Find the command for DISABLE-ALL-GORE, and set it to disable the gore... Now go to your console, where it shows MAP, MAGIC, ITEMS, and SKILLS... Select MAP, and the game crashes. (Not to mention, the game still has all gore on.)

There are dozens of invalid settings that alter the games physics beyond what the game needs to operate... Also crashing the game, and causing things to fly all over, or act strange, and animate oddly... Just stop using it, until Bethesda makes that command actually dump the SKYRIM INI, not the fallout INI.

Directly from that INI...

[GamePlay]fPlayerHealthSaveOnPauseLimit=0.2500sTrackProgressPath=\\vault2\Fallout\LevelData\

I cant figure out what, if anything the following settings do:

fProcessListsUpdateHighFrameRate=30.0000
fProcessListsUpdateLowFrameRate=10.0000
fProcessListsUpdateTimeMin=0.5000
fProcessListsUpdateTimeMax=5.0000
iLowProcessingMilliseconds=2


Also, does anyone know which section of code tells it to stop the tree animations when the framerate goes below a certain number? I have tried alternating all sorts of numbers into the above code with no difference.

this is some very interesting and important info, and it should probably even be pinned. The Skyrim tweak guide on Geforce.com clearly states that tweaks other from the ones listed in the guide itself haven't been mentioned due to their irrelevancy as far as the game runs/behaves.
The only tweak worth implementing in the Skyrim .ini is probably the uGridstoLoad, which by the way is at serious risk of crippling performance and game stability and behaviour at any value above 7. People setting this to 11 have probably no idea what they are doing and what they will have to expect as the game progresses.

As far as the .ini being non-adapt I was having some doubts myself as I noticed the file had values such as "one limb didìsmemberment" an "reflect explosions" for water. there was even a variable with the word "bullet" in it.
I also noticed the Fallout line, now I know why!
Not to mention the red logo at start, a clear example of the file not being suited for Skyrim.

Thanks a lot JD_Mortal, that was some precious and valuable info, the kind that shouldn't be overllooked and maybe even widespread.
There's a placebo .ini tweak being posted on this forum every other minute!

This exactly. Sounds like for some, it is a different number, however for me, as soon as FPS drops below 30, tree branch movement starts to die off very fast. At 25 there is zero movement.

I've installed a few mods along the way that I thought broke the tree animations (enb, fxaa ppi, etc.) until I realized it's tied to FPS.

It all happens to me as well. Like everyone else said, it must be just a FPS 'saver' thing.

Useful info. Thx. Never tried tho.

So nobody knows of an ini setting that controls the tree limb movement based on FPS?