TrackIR 5 help pls

[GunnDawg09 0]

I recently got my hands on a TrackIR 5, and have never used head tracking before. I have not downloaded any profiles or anything, and pretty much trying it straight out of the box. The TrackIR 5 software recognizes Profile: Default, Target: Flight Simulator X, with the settings of Speed: 1, and Smooth: 10.

 

My focus plane is the PMDG 737-600/700 and I have noticed its quite hard to get around the cockpit with this thing. In order to get to the FMC I have to bend my head and a weird downwards angle and shove my head almost all the way to the screen, and then some times the TrackIR loses its signal due to me being so close. Also when trying to get to the overhead panel I have to pretty well move enough right I am almost off my chair, bend it sideways to get a proper view, and look quite a ways up, very awkward.

 

Could some of you give me some pointers on how to set this up for a PMDG 737? Maybe a profile and instructions on how to use a profile? I am running on a 32in monitor in 1920x1080 res if that matters and the TrackIR device is aimed just slightly downwards as I sit lower than the top of the monitor just slightly. Also, using the TrackClip PRO.

 

Thank you,

[hs118 707]

Ive been using TrackIR5 for about 3 weeks now. It does take some getting used to!

 

Spend some quality time adjusting the movement curves in the TrackIR application. For a couple of flights, I ran FSX in a window side by side to the TrackIR app in a window. Pause FSX, make some curve changes in TrackIR and check out the result in FSX.

 

Particularly related to speed and smoothing, .6 speed and very high on the smoothing worked best for me.

 

Finally, I programmed two buttons on my joystick. One to center (re-center) the head tracking and one to pause the tracking. Use the re-center on flights until you get a centering that matches a comfortable head position. Using the pause buttom allows me to move around without affecting the forward view in the VC.

 

Hope this helps. Definitely worth the time investment, I can't live without it now.

[GunnDawg09 0]

I have never been familiar with adjusting curves in anything that involves it. This setup is far more difficult than I thought it would be. Should the TrackIR be directly in the center of my monitor? Should I have to bend my neck in such ways to use this? It seems over the course of only an hour flight I'd have neck and back pains at this rate.

 

I literally have to turn my head 90 degrees and down so much that my chin is forced to touch my chest (basically bending it as far down as you can) just to see the pedestal.

 

I have only tried the PMDG 737 up to this point so I figured I'd give some other planes a try and in some the default view sets me so far back I am behind the pilots headrest and have no clue how to adjust the "default" and if the default will stick for each plane or if I'll have to change it each time I get into a new plane. So far I am very disappointed in this device :(

[molleh 451]

TrackIR 5 is very very easy to set up. The default profiles don't have much "speed" in the curves.

 

To keep this short and sweet, choose the "One to One" profile and click the button next to selected profile that says "Save a copy of this profile" or words to that effect. Name it FSX Profile or whatever you want.

 

The reason I suggest the One to One profile to start with is that it has flat curves, meaning your viewpoint movement in FSX will be more natural. However once you adjust you will probably find that you don't like how sensitive looking left or right might be, or you might want to crank up how sensitive looking down is, etc. You'll see what I mean once you follow the rest of this post.

 

Then go through the 6 axes (pitch, roll, yaw, X, Y, Z) and increase the curve (use the up arrow icon, it moves the entire level up as opposed to moving an individual point in the curve) This will increase the speed of your in-game head movements so that you don't have to move your actual head as much.

 

Keep it under 5 on the graph, anything over that is over kill IMO. Somewhere around 3 is better, but everyone has their own tastes preferences.

 

Once you have that done don't forget to click the little save icon so your new "FSX Profile" will remember the changes you just made. Then go to the Titles tab and scroll down to FSX and make sure your new profile is selected or you'll still be getting the default one.

 

Trust me TrackIR is NOT difficult to use, but like any device that comes with a lot of functionality there is going to be a learning curve. Don't blame your lack of success on the device just yet.

 

edit: One last thing, I have a profile for my TrackIR 5 that works very nicely with any type of flight sim, including FSX. I can send it to you if you want, but it's very much a personal preference thing so while I love the settings, you might absolutely hate them. But I tried to strike a balance between sensitivity, naturalness, and functionality.

[Luis_KMIA 242]

I've been using mine for a week now with my NGX. My biggest frustration was not getting enough movement to look at the engine start levers. Then I realized all I had to do was tip the baseball cap where I attached the clip up a bit, and that did the trick. The suggestions above are also useful. I love this hardware! I did a flight without it yesterday and found myself moving my head waiting for something to happen. You get used to it fast!

[toedv 1]

I'm with the OP. I have tried several times to set up this contraption, but I don't like the results. Too much movement for certain tasks and too little movement for other.

[molleh 451]

I'm with the OP. I have tried several times to set up this contraption, but I don't like the results. Too much movement for certain tasks and too little movement for other.

 

That's why they give you the functionality to tweak the curves exactly how you personally prefer them.

 

Anyway, I uploaded my profile here if anyone wants to try it: http://www.filedropper.com/flightsims

 

I prefer flat, smooth inputs so all but one axis has a flat "curve", the one that does is Roll, because it's annoying when you have a slight tilt to your view that you aren't intending to have, and in FSX you don't really need roll functionality unless you are doing aerobatics or something (it's more useful in combat sims though)

[GunnDawg09 0]

TrackIR 5 is very very easy to set up. The default profiles don't have much "speed" in the curves.

 

To keep this short and sweet, choose the "One to One" profile and click the button next to selected profile that says "Save a copy of this profile" or words to that effect. Name it FSX Profile or whatever you want.

 

The reason I suggest the One to One profile to start with is that it has flat curves, meaning your viewpoint movement in FSX will be more natural. However once you adjust you will probably find that you don't like how sensitive looking left or right might be, or you might want to crank up how sensitive looking down is, etc. You'll see what I mean once you follow the rest of this post.

 

Then go through the 6 axes (pitch, roll, yaw, X, Y, Z) and increase the curve (use the up arrow icon, it moves the entire level up as opposed to moving an individual point in the curve) This will increase the speed of your in-game head movements so that you don't have to move your actual head as much.

 

Keep it under 5 on the graph, anything over that is over kill IMO. Somewhere around 3 is better, but everyone has their own tastes preferences.

 

Once you have that done don't forget to click the little save icon so your new "FSX Profile" will remember the changes you just made. Then go to the Titles tab and scroll down to FSX and make sure your new profile is selected or you'll still be getting the default one.

 

Trust me TrackIR is NOT difficult to use, but like any device that comes with a lot of functionality there is going to be a learning curve. Don't blame your lack of success on the device just yet.

 

edit: One last thing, I have a profile for my TrackIR 5 that works very nicely with any type of flight sim, including FSX. I can send it to you if you want, but it's very much a personal preference thing so while I love the settings, you might absolutely hate them. But I tried to strike a balance between sensitivity, naturalness, and functionality.

 

Ok I plugged your profile in and gave it a go. Now I feel like I am sitting way to far forward in the NGX. I should be sitting back some. It also takes quite a bit of head movement to view the overhead panel. I feel like its better but still needs adjustment. Move my POV back some so im not so close to the panel, and make it easier to just glance up and to the right for the overhead panel instead of having to look all the way up and right.

[molleh 451]

The position in the "seat" has nothing to do with TrackIR.

 

What you have to do is make sure that TrackIR is "centered" when you're at your neutral seating position in your chair. For example, if you're leaning forward a bit when you initialize TrackIR, it assumes that position is your "neutral" position and the moment you lean back in your chair your view will move back from the centered position. Likewise if you are slouched a bit when you initialize TrackIR than lean forward a bit once you're actually flying in the sim, your viewpoint will be stuck forward a tad.

 

Short version: USE THE CENTER FUNCTION WHEN YOU ARE COMFY IN YOUR CHAIR AND NOT LEANING ANY PARTICULAR DIRECTION AND YOUR VIEW IN FSX WILL BE WHERE IT WOULD BE WITHOUT TRACKIR

 

You can change the key for the "center" function, but in my profile I set it to - (minus) key on NUMPAD.

 

With that out of the way, you can start tweaking the profile to your hearts content. You said you want to be able to see the overhead easier, that means you are going to have to tweak the PITCH axis to be more sensitive - all that takes is a few clicks of the mouse to move the curve UP. You might want to uncheck "mirror" in the profile panel so that your pitch UP can be a different sensitivity than your pitch down.

[GunnDawg09 0]

I guess its not to far zoomed in anymore, however it still requires some very strange movements of my head to get a good clear view of the overhead panel. Very un natural and could become painful if having to do it often during a flight.

[molleh 451]

Well it's not for everyone I guess.

[GunnDawg09 0]

Well it's not for everyone I guess.

 

 

I am quite certain its not setup right as the motions I must make in order to get a good view of the overhead panel are such that no one would be able to do it every time they fly. Its quite drastic to the point I almost cant see my screen.

[molleh 451]

Did you adjust the curves like I said?? Trust me if you do it right you can have the curves so aggressive that looking up half a degree will flip your head around 6 times in the sim.

[GunnDawg09 0]

What curve do I adjust for lets say when I move my head to the right? Not turn to the right but move to the right? that will fix a lot of issues.

[TheGrunt 44]

For me extra adjusting isn't that necessary (though I've done it to improve functionality to my preferences), but there are two things I've noticed which are required for smooth operation. First, regular clip is bit sensitive how it is positioned for IR-transmitter/receiver. If clip isn't correctly positioned and relative angles of reflectors aren't right you may get poor functioining you described and, for example, if clip is pointing too much downward also looking downward and to the sides gets awkward. Other is that system is quite sensitive to backlight. If you have window behind you, even bright sunlight which is coming through holes of the shades may disrupt TrackIR performance. For these occasions I have to pull curtains in front of the window along with the shades to prevent light "dribbling" through shades. On cloudy weather this isn't a problem at all or when sun isn't shining directly to window.

 

Overall, for me TrackIR is working beautifully and I really can't live without it with simulators nowadays. It is the best simulator controller I've yet purchased.