I'm in the early stages of cockpit design. I have opted to get the visuals down pat before progressing with much of the h/w. I have a projector hooked up to a GForce4 card and it's doing the front view with all instruments moved to a secondary monitor. Works GREAT! If you can afford to drop $1500-2K for a low end projector, you won't be sorry...the feel of flight on a 90" screen is incredible. First time I've ever felt what I've felt in the real plane when lining up for final. See pictures attached.Anyway, question is... every time I select the aircraft, the panel positions are all reset to the projector screen. Anyone know how to set the panel positions so that they get restored on second monitor?thx.Kevin

>Anyway, question is... every time I select the aircraft, the >panel positions are all reset to the projector screen. >Anyone know how to set the panel positions so that they get >restored on second monitor? Do a "save flight" for each aircraft you setup the panels for, you can as well set the cockpit to "cold" with everything turned off, sitting at your favorite local airport. Then when you go flying just pick one of those saved situations for starters - panel positions get saved along the flight. You need to change the date and stuff, but that is usually less work than setting up the panels.PS. Is that back projection or just lots of keystone correction? You get the image pretty close without having the shadows of your desk or yourself in the screen..?Tuomas

Great view. Would love to have one of those projectors.What resolution is the display at?Thanks,Gerry

Tuomas,I've saved the flight and restoring the flight will restore the panel undocked but it always repositions itself in the center of the main monitor instead of on my instrument monitor. Not sure how to get around this. It appears to work fine if I reset the flight, but if I switch aircraft, I'm back to having to reposition the panel. Note: this only seems to happen with the main instrument panel, secondary panels are OK.This is actually using front projection. Very limited on space so back (although preferrable) is out of the question. The projector is mounted from the ceiling approx 10 feet back, upside down. suprisingly very little keystone correction required. The data projector seems to be designed to project "up", so when flipped upside down it naturally projects down.As for the shadow, because the angle of projection is fairly steep, At 4ft back from the screen I'm able to get just under 4ft of vertical before I start casting a shadow. I'm hoping this will be sufficient clearance for my panel. May have to scale my vertical measurements down. With this setup, I won't be able to do a full enclosure as I had wanted, but it gets me started.I have to convince my wife that we need a bigger house for my cockpit ;-)>>Anyway, question is... every time I select the aircraft, the >>panel positions are all reset to the projector screen. >>Anyone know how to set the panel positions so that they get >>restored on second monitor? >>Do a "save flight" for each aircraft you setup the panels >for, you can as well set the cockpit to "cold" with >everything turned off, sitting at your favorite local >airport. >>Then when you go flying just pick one of those saved >situations for starters - panel positions get saved along >the flight. You need to change the date and stuff, but that >is usually less work than setting up the panels. >>PS. Is that back projection or just lots of keystone >correction? You get the image pretty close without having >the shadows of your desk or yourself in the screen..? >>Tuomas

Running in 800x600, believe it or not. The view you see is still not even close to being optimized. I've literally hung a white bedsheet as a screen for now. Plan to frame and paint with screen paint. That will improve the display tremendously.>Great view. Would love to have one of those projectors. >What resolution is the display at? >>Thanks, >Gerry

Nice screen!As for the panels, all my panels get saved with the flight, including the main one. I'm using a Matrox G400 dual head; not sure if that makes a difference.Peter http://bfu.avsim.net/sigpics/PeterR.gifBFU Forums Moderator[table border=2 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=1][tr][td][table border=0 cellpadding=8 cellspacing=0][tr][td bgcolor=#540000]http://bfu.avsim.net/sigpics/logo75t.gif[/td][td align="center" bgcolor=#FFFFF6]Bush Flying Unlimited"At home in the wild"Looking for adventure? Come join us! * [link:bfu.avsim.net|Web Site] * [link:www.cafepress.com/bfu,bfu2,bfu3,bfu4|BFU Store] * [link:bfu.avsim.net/join.htm]Join!][/td][/tr][/table][/td][/tr][/table

Kevin,I'm suprised with the quality your getting at 800x600. The comments I've read in the past suggest not using anything lower than 1024x768. But your pictures sure look great to me. And the 800x600 projectors are alot less expensive. What brand are you using?Enjoy, enjoy,Gerry

Gerry,This is an Epson data projector, PowerLite. Picked it up at Costco for $1900 CDN. You do lose some quality for sure, but what I really wanted was the "feel" of flight and the perception of depth and it definately does that very well. Also, the 800x600 is very friendly on frame rates. I'm usually seeing rates of 40-50fps now with sliders at 70-100% on a P4 1.6G.>Kevin, >>I'm suprised with the quality your getting at 800x600. The >comments I've read in the past suggest not using anything >lower than 1024x768. But your pictures sure look great to >me. And the 800x600 projectors are alot less expensive. What >brand are you using? >>Enjoy, enjoy, >Gerry

Kevin,Any chance you live in South Florida. I'd love to see the 90" view.Gerry

I wish! Ottawa, Canada. It's -39 wind chill today. Wanna trade locations? What else do you do in this cold but fly in your sim?>Kevin, >>Any chance you live in South Florida. I'd love to see the >90" view. >>Gerry

I wish! Ottawa, Canada. It's -39 wind chill today. Wanna trade locations? What else do you do in this cold but fly in your sim?>Kevin, I think I'll pass. Keep us posted as you continue with the cockpit.Take Care,Gerry

Hi Kevin,Thanks for the pics and system info. I'm working on an A320 sim and getting to the projector stage. I read a post awhile back about a "paralax" problem when using a projector for the front view. I did some net research on paralax, but could not determine just what the writer was refering to. My research lead me to believe paralax has something to do with depth perception. Apparently the effect was so bad that individual quit using a projector.Do you see any visual problems with your projetor? The view looks great to me!Richard

Found the post I mentioned. Do a search on "paralax" from the cockpit forum. The post is dated 18 Nov 2002.

Richard,Yes I know the post that you're speaking of, I saw it too. Not sure why this person was having this problem. I've found quite the opposite. I fly a small Katana 2 seater in the real world and always found it frustrating with flightsim because the depth perception wasn't there, consequently final approach was alway very unrealistic feeling and very difficult to gauge. I would have to say that now with the screen in place, the feeling of approach is much, much more realistic. I have found that my approaches are much smoother and controlled in the sim, and feel like the real thing. You can actually feel how far the strip is away and much more easily align with it. You're sense of altitude is also greatly enhanced. When flying over tall buildings you actually get the sense that you can look down.Also, just added Radar Contact with a second PC, so my ATC audio now goes through my headset while the ambient sounds are coming from the speakers on the main PC. This has *really* enhanced the realistic experience.Next: hardware. Thinking the pedestal and throttle quadrant will be my next stop. Ultimately building up a 737NG flight deck.Kevin>Hi Kevin, >>Thanks for the pics and system info. >>I'm working on an A320 sim and getting to the projector >stage. I read a post awhile back about a "paralax" problem >when using a projector for the front view. I did some net >research on paralax, but could not determine just what the >writer was refering to. My research lead me to believe >paralax has something to do with depth perception. >Apparently the effect was so bad that individual quit using >a projector. >>Do you see any visual problems with your projetor? The view >looks great to me! >>Richard

Kevin,As I don't have to much room space to have a projection of 90", please let me know how much would be the minimum size of the projection , in order I have a good feeling of a real flight.I am building a 737-400 cockpit and I arrived at the time to decide on the projection .Your projection is fantastic.Thanks and best regards.Alberto Kunzel