Active Camera 2000: problems/suggestions

[Guest cwright]

First of all I'd like to say a big thank you for this great add-on! But unfortunately there seem to be a few small problems....1. As reported by some others, I found there were problems with the spot view feature. On the first attempt it didn't work. I quickly realised I had to turn off the gradual transitions. But after setting it to off in options it immediately turned itself on again! This made it impossible to use the spot mode feature. However, on the next FS2002 session it worked properly and it was great to be able to use the mouse to adjust the spot view. But I noticed one interesting thing. With spot view working properly I could not turn gradual transitions on again. With pilot view set to on it seems AC stops the gradual transitions mode being changed - which in turn can stop the spot view from working! There is a second problem with spot view. If it's working properly, then virtual cockpit and flyby views cannot be selected - pressing the S key cycles through only pilot and spot views. To summarise: AC stops the gradual transitions mode from being changed, which means that sometimes the spot mode does not work. With spot view working, only pilot view and spot view can be accessed.2. The flyby seems asymmetrical. The aircraft spends about two-thirds of the time flying AWAY from the camera. This means that the flypast ends at a much greater distance than when it begins. Not a great problem, but it does spoil the effect. I think it was symmetrical in the last version. SUGGESTIONS1. In spot mode gradual transitions has to be turned off. This is a shame, as I much prefer to have gradual transitions. This could be simulated by filtering the mouse output so that the reaction is slowed down. With a small amount of filtering the movement would be smoother - and with a larger amount it would simulate gradual transitions. A filter could also be useful in the virtual cockpit. Here, filtering the mouse output could be used to simulate a more natural movement of the head - without filtering head rotation seems unnaturally abrupt.2. In spot view the mouse wheel can be used to adjust the view. It would be MUCH more useful if it adjusted the view distance. Would that be possible? The zoom can already be adjusted by the plus and minus keys. I found that the mouse cannot be used to adjust the CTRL-W AI aircraft view. Would that be possible? Also, if flying a Cessna and a 747 is viewed in the CTRL-W window, the view distance is far too small. If AC could adjust the view distance in a CTRL-W window, that would be great. *************************************** Once again, many thanks for a GREAT add-on! Best regards, Chris

[Guest Anticyclone]

Dear Chris,We are aware of the gradual transition issue which is not comfortable to manipulate. The solution is to save your default startup STN with the gradual transition unchecked.Anyway, to respond immediately to the huge and constructive feedback we upgraded AC2002 to AC2002 1.1 To make things more simple we added a "Use mouse in spot view" option in the AC2002 menu. This function enables the Active Camera Spot Plane view. If "Use mouse in spot view" is unchecked, the FS default spot plane view is active. So no more trembling image and weird panning for uers who forgot to uncheck the gradual transition in the FS views options (since the FS default spot plane is now a standard function).Guillaume discovered a sporadic loop (not an infinite loop) which caused sometimes a jump over the VC view while cycling.This is fixed too.The code of the Fly by is exactly the same as Active Camera Pro, we made no changes. I guess you have to try with other settings (duration, distance and altitude).Thank you for the interesting suggestions, but we will no longer improve Active Camera 2002 (perhaps we'll spend time on another module ;) ) The update can be found in the Avsim file library (AC2002_1_1.zip)Kind regards,

[Guest]

HI Chris,All your comments are excellent and reasonable. I know from reading them that you well appreciate the effort Serge and Guillaume have put into this module.I also know only too well the herculean task in making such a module work within the limitations of the base software it is hooked on to, not that the base software is bad, quite the contrary, just that it wasn't designed to cope with the ambitions of Active Camera.The Active Camera team has been tireless in seeking solutions to get AC Pro to work flawlessly, and they are very close to cracking the remaining challenges.Well done chaps, and I look forward to the module for FS2004.Best Regards,Rob Young

[Guest cwright]

Serge, I've installed version 1.1 and the ability to switch off the spot mode mouse control is very useful. I think I'll use it like this. One new feature I really love is the view presets. It works beautifully in my Constellation design. Now I can jump straight from the pilot's seat to a passenger seat without all that tedious walking down the passenger cabin! I always regarded Active Camera Pro as the best FS add-on. That's no longer true. Without doubt the best FS add-on is Active Camera 2002! Many thanks. Best regards, Chris

[Guest cwright]

Rob, Couldn't agree more! Best regards, Chris

[hangar 660]

Serge - simply an awesome job!...gotta LOVE the stall buffeting feature!! - cant express enough my gratitude for all your effort in this projectDave