I'm too dumb to use Active Camera

[Guest]

I feel kind of dumb. I've been looking at the amazing screenshots that people are posting using Active Camera to get into very cool viewpoints. I installed it, read as much as I could and tried fiddling.I'm lost.I'm not sure how to control it in comparison to the way I control the normal spot view. I think I figured out the "walking around" part when the plane is on the ground, but when I'm in the air it seems to go crazy.I'm not sure what the two settings are for controlling the interior and exterior view or when they should be selected.What exactly does the turbulence setting do?I'm sure some (or all) of these questions sound pretty stupid but I'm actually not too dumb and have made most add-ons I've downloaded work properly. I just can't seem to get a handle on this one and it seems pretty useful.I appreciate any assistance.Thanks!

[Guest Lindy]

Don't feel too bad...... I can't get it to work for me at all. At least you indicate you have the "walking around part" figured out, so you're one up on me. :-lolI still have it zipped up and saved. Maybe one of these days, I'll give it another try.-Lindy :-wave

[Guest]

Lindy did you remember to put the Active Camera config in the FS2002 root directory like the Dauphin's. I couldn't get it to work for a while then I realized that I hadn't put the config where it was supposed to be.

[Dark Moment 0]

I couldn't work it out at all, Rob, until all else failed and I finally read the instructions ...As far as I can determine, it only works when you are in VC (i.e. the tower view is the same as in previous versions). But in VC, you can move around using the mouse, which is just fantastic as it's much more accurate than using the tophat ... giving you the equivalent of that silly Trackview thing you have to put on your head. Using the External setting, you can move around the aircraft from the outside. By configuring the turbulence, you actually bob up and down as you walk, and can kneel down to get a low view. This is all done with a combination of mouse and the numkeypad. Very cool.I think the other turbulence thing gets your head to bob up and down in the cockpit too, but you can keep that! Anyway, I'm sure you'll get a reply from someone who actually knows what they're talking about.Mark "Dark Moment" BeaumontP.S. Don't like your sig, much, old mate ... a bit negative.http://www.swiremariners.com/cxkaitak.htmlhttp://www.swiremariners.com/reds.htmlhttp://www.swiremariners.com/cxkaitakv3.jpg

[Guest]

HiMaybe I can be of help here. I had exactly the same problem. I just couldn't get the walk around in Active Camera get working (Win98SE with an 'old' gameport CH-Yoke). I just thought the coolie-hat settings prevent Active Camera from working properly. But then, after installing the FS Sky World addon of Chris Willis (beautiful addon - hats off to Chris) and getting a constant error report (no FS 2002 installed) I started to do some investigation and finally found the solution on Chris Willis page: I had no valid registry entry for FS2002.I then did a complete re-install of FS2002 as suggested (after renaming the previous installation to something like "FS2002_old") and this did the trick. I finally had a valid entry in the registry.This goes for Windows 98 SE.HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE-> Software -> Microsoft -> Microsoft Games -> Flight Simulator ->8.0 (if this folder is empty, re-install FS2002) -> ActiveCamera (contains the settings for ActiveCamera)My folder 8.0 was empty before. After the re-install it contained some FS2002 version specific items (product code, version no. etc.)Moving the folders of FS2002.cfg, aircraft, gauges, sound, scenery, textures, flightsmyflts, scenedbworldtextures etc.etc. from the old installation to the new one was a peace of cake thereafter. FS Sky World works beautifully now, as does Active Camera. Do a check in your registry (disclaimer here - don't tamper with your registry). If you don't have some entries in the folder 8.0 as shown in the path above, (remember - this is for Windows 98SE - I don't know any othter OS) re-install FS2002 and see if your problem is fixed afterwards.wish you luck and happy landings!Danieledit - spelling errors.

[Guest]

Thanks for the info. I'm sorry you don't like my sig but there's a story behind it.I fly for Mountain Air VA out of the LAX hub but they also have a hub in Alaska. It looked like some real challenging terrain so I decided to try a seemingly easy route.The first "airport" was a fairly small asphalt strip on a hill. I blew the approach, came in long, put it down anyway, forgot to deploy my spoiler and ended up with what you see in my sig, collapsing my nose gear and shooting off the end of the hill.I sent a series of screenshots in to the Alaska hub chief to show him my inauspicious first flight. I decided to turn one of them into a sig since I am not too talented in the cockpit and it seemed more appropriate for a pilot of my skill level than the usual high-flying beauty shots.It only made sense that I should add the green stripe and replace the terse "CRASH" with my own name in similar letters since in some ways they signify the same thing!Anyway, that's the story. :)

[Guest jase439]

ActiveCamera is pretty cool, but in all honesty - it's pretty buggy in its current form. It doesn't always work right in the air (and does exactly what you described). I find that after walking around for a while with the aircraft on the ground, the external view will intermittently start to oscillate between the forward view and a "downward" view at the ground - creating an almost nauseating epileptic effect. Once it gets into this state, all my views become hopelessly corrupt. The top third of my screen proceeds to smudge and smear and tear - none of it correctable unless I restart the simulator.The head latency effect is really nice, but if you have a zippy processor and frame rates above 20, you have to SLOW down your sim to accomodate this effect - otherwise you get this erratic shuddering and shaking in VC mode. That's a compromise I'm not willing to make - I put big $ into this box for a fast fluid sim! I aint about to slow it down for 'head bobbling'. I've taken it off my system until a less buggy version is released. It's a fantastic concept though, but the implementation leaves something to be desired.I wouldn't worry about it ;-)J

[Guest Anticyclone]

Hi J,The external view is not buggy. As told in the readme file it is simply an FS limitation. This view is NOT an FS view and the simulator can't refresh a scenery featuring original tiles (the limitation no longer exists on sceneries with customized tiles). So it is easy to understand why it will never work neither in the air nor on ground. It is a freeware and we have no time to waste on studying the FS memory and hidden variables for days even for weeks.It was not necessary to restart your simulator, simply uncheck the external pilot view was the best way.I have a P4 2200 with a GForce 4 (is that high end hardware ?). When using MSFS I ALWAYS limit the frame at 25 fps (with or without Active Camera Pro enabled). It is more than sufficient to have a smooth running of the simulator. What is the advantage to have 70+ fps ? Is it more fluid or confortable than at 30 fps ? By limitating the target frame rate I leave many processor ressources free for other tasks and I can have more FS options activated, use complex add-ons, see more dynamic aircrafts etc...So there will NEVER be a "less buggy" version regarding the external pilot view.Serge BAYEwww.anticyclone.be

[Cruachan 705]

It's all too typical how our mileages continue to vary when it comes to comparing notes of our experiences with the various 3rd party offerings.All I can say is that I have finally found my nirvana with the following core combination:FS2002 Pro Edition ( FPS locked at 25)1. SIAI-Marchetti SF.260 for FS2002 by RealAir Simulations2. Replacement textures by Ruud Faber (FScene)3. Terramesh for Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales (Lago)4. FSLandClass scenery packs (Berkhard Renk)5. Global Water textures and effects (Ed Truthan)6. Autogenius by Francesco Mandelli7. Replacement Trees and Buildings (Autogen) and replacement trees -all by Gerrish Gray.8. Stars [5014] and Planets by J. Chuang9. ActiveCamera Pro by Serge Baye, Guillaume Darier, Andy Newman - this module has, for me, brought alive the sensation of flight in a simulator in a perfectly unique fashion and the authors have built in considerable configurability to suit most folk.And, if all the foregoing was not enough, I have now installed the supreme artistry of Chris Willis (FSW): 10. FS Sky World 2002SEMy System Spec:Gigabyte GA-8IRXP MoBoPIV 2.2A512MB Crucial PC2100 DDR Ram3D Blaster4 Ti4400 (Creative's 30.82 driver variants tweaked with RivaTuner LOD -0.1 and Anisotropy forced level 8)SB Audigy PlayerDeskstar 120GXP UDMA100 HDs x 2 (60 and 40 Gig)CH Products USB Yoke, Pedals and FighterstickPlantronics Headset and Mike comboPlexWriter 40/12/40APioneer DVD-106SWindows XP Home Edition (SP1)DirectX 8.1It's hard to believe that this hobby can get much better but there always seems to be something else waiting to delight us around the next corner. Those like myself are so lucky to have our appetites served by the creative ingenuity of all those enthusiastic and dedicated designers out there. At this moment I could not be happier.Mike :-wave

[Guest jase439]

To each his own, I guess. If it's of any consolation, I do like the mouse-wheel tracking in VC mode :)Sorry to have stepped on your toes.

[Guest RobA]

Mike, I have almost an identical setup as you but a little less horsepower. (AMD 1.4) Target fr set at 20. Active Camera works very nice and the flybys are the greatest! The whole sim is very fluid now with most sliders well above 50%.A big thanks to all the creative designers out there for the fantastic addons we're enjoying.Best regards, Rob

[Cruachan 705]

Hi,I don't believe any toes are smarting!I think what we can learn from this is the acceptance that very few software releases are perfect in every respect but many users can find some provided features that work well for them.To be honest, the feature provided by ActiveCamera that I use mostly is the in-cockpit head movement. Currently I use it all the time. It provides that certain something to sim flying that has taken me significantly closer to the reality of that elusive experience so few of us can afford to enjoy for real. For that I will remain deeply grateful to the module's creators.I occasionally switch on the fun fly-by view which is fine so long as you pan to a position whereby you avoid seeing the induced blurry ground textures. No way around that issue, I gather.It's also nice to be able to wander around at will inside a detailed work of art such as the excellent Dassault Falcon 50 but, for the most part this is a feature that is nice to have but not often used.Mike :-wave