OPUS Weather Engine....feedback?

[Opus Software 84]

Mine is working fine here with full DHM effects. I have TrackIR5, do you have the same or do you have TrackIR4? Have you followed the instructions in the first post of the TracKIR topic, these instructions are essential before you run TrackIR or OpusFSX otherwise it will not work correctly.

 

Regards

Stephen

 

Before using the TrackIR interface you MUST 'Check For Game Updates' within your TrackIR5. Stop the TrackIR software. Next restart TrackIR and ensure OpusFSX is listed in Titles under the Advanced Settings tab.

 

Prior to using the TrackIR5 device via OpusFSX you MUST ensure TrackIR5 does not directly connect to the FSX/P3D simulator. To accomplish this you MUST rename the two simconnect manifest files within the TrackIR5 installation folder. The folder is usually located in either,

 

      c:\Program Files\NaturalPoint\TrackIR5              (Win 7 32-bit)

or,  c:\Program Files (x86)\NaturalPoint\TrackIR5     (Win 7 64-bit)

 

BEFORE using the OpusFSX TrackIR5 interface you MUST rename the two manifest files,

 

       simconnect.manifest

and, simconnectSP2.manifest

 

We recommend renaming these files to,

 

       simconnect_RENAMED.manifest

and, simconnectSP2_RENAMED.manifest

 

If you wish to revert back to using TrackIR without the OpusFSX interface then you will have to change these files back to their original names. For your information, in-house our TrackIR5 settings were configured as Speed=0.8, Smooth=5, Motion Adjustment=All boxes ticked.

 

This is the first beta release of this interface, we have not as yet considered imposing any limits on the TrackIR head movement. This will most probably be included in a later beta release or at least before release. Please comment here to add any further sugestions relating to the TrackIR5 interface.

Please note, we are not sure whether the SDK is compatible with TrackIR4, other developers hint that it is not.

 

[Opus Software 84]

You shouldn't need to disable XYZ in TrackIR, the DHM effects will be superimposed onto of the TrackIR 6DOF data.

 

If TrackIR connects to FSX directly via SimConnect, which it will if you don't rename it's manifest files before starting it. Then the display will flicker as both TrackIR and OpusFSX send camera controls to it. NatuaralPoint also recommends running TrackIR and OpusFSX before starting FSX, but it did not seem to matter on my system. Perhaps it does. Make sure you tick the TrackIR enable box in our Configuration and that OpusFSX is listed in the TrackIR Games List. OpusFSX will automatically run a program called FSXTRACKIR.EXE, this is our program that interfaces between OpusFSX and the TrackIR SDK. Normally this program is minimised but you can open it and you should see that it has connected to TrackIR, it will display the TrackIR version nimbler. You can also run the program manually with a TEST argument, in which case the program will display all the TrackIR data it is receiving.

 

Hope this helps enough to get you going.

 

Regards

Stephen

[deetee 164]

I have done all that, let me try again later, thanks.

[Opus Software 84]

Do you have TrackIR4 or TrackIR5? We have only tested with TrackIR5.

 

And of course you must not run EZCA at the same time. I haven't been using EZCA so I don't know if that could be a factor. You could try manually running our FSXTRACKIR.EXE program with the TEST program argument, you should see it connect to TrackIR, report it's version number, and then display all TrackIR 6DOF updates. If this part of the link is working then so should the rest. That's all I can think of at the moment.

 

Regards

Stephen

[lincrun 0]

Hi Stephen,

 

Just dropping into this thread to say.... Thank you very much for your personal dedication to your software, both in extolling its virtues, mentioning certain shortcomings and patiently listening to lots of us firing big Qs at you. You have dealt with it all with with some style and lots of patience.

 

I shall be buying OpusFSX as soon as I can spare the cash, as I (for one) find your support to be a fine example to other commercial products.

 

Thanks again

 

Lin

[Opus Software 84]

Thanks Lin

 

Your kind words are much appreciated. You will be just in time for the first stages of the LWE upgrade we are testing at the moment.

 

Happy flying.

 

Regards

Stephen

[deetee 164]

TrackIR now working with DHM: one important step is to disable (set to 0) the Smooth slider in the Motion Control in the TrackIR Basic Settings. :smile:

 

One caveat is that with the TrackIR enabled editing camera positions does not seem to be possible right now.

[RudiJG1 172]

One caveat is that with the TrackIR enabled editing camera positions does not seem to be possible right now.

 

I've experienced that as well...any advice would be appreciated. I need to do more testing myself also.

[Opus Software 84]

You are correct. You must disable (F9) TrackIR before editing camera views. But it is certainly a nice idea or thought to use feedback from the TrackIR interface. I will put it on the list for further thought at some later stage. But for now just disable it with F9 key (I believe) and use the arrow keys in the usual manner. Best disable it before opening the Camera dialog.

 

My Smoothness is set to 5.

 

Regards

Stephen

[Opus Software 84]

Latest update...

 

It has been reported that TrackIR4 hardware will work with TrackIR5 software (drivers).

 

Regards

Cheryl

[Opus Software 84]

Latest Update ... Live Weathe Engine Upgrade

 

Development is progressing very well and we are now testing the stage one and stage two upgrades, the weather map has been extended to about 300 miles in all directions, the geodesic mapping has been checked, and all ATIS reports will be 100% accurate out to a distance of about 90km (FSX limitation not ours), but since you must be within about 35nm of the airport to receive the radio transmission that is really no limitation. We have managed to double the resolution of the weather map, each weather cell now being 16km square. This will have even more added benefits when WINTER finally comes. In light of these changes we will now be recommending you set your weather update to somewhere between 30mins/50km (default) and 60mins/80km.

 

Regards

Stephen

[deetee 164]

Just for info I am unable to edit the camera positions without first disabling the TIR from within Opus.

 

The TIR smooth slider kills just about all DHM unless set to zero (I've tried it on 1, 5, 10 etc).

(Running latest TIR software 5.1.3 b9945 with v5 hardware)

 

Thanks.

David

[Opus Software 84]

Hi David

 

Many thanks for the valuable feedback. I will pass on the information and tell everyone to set Smoothness to zero and configure TrackIR off before editing. I will look into it further tomorrow to see what can be done to accommodate camera editing without having to change the configuration.

 

Regards

Stephen

 

 

 

Hi David

 

I should be able to sort out the smoothing as well since all TrackIR inputs are fed into my interface program. I will report back tomorrow.

 

Regards

Stephen

[RudiJG1 172]

VFR flight PHLI to PHNL this evening with Live Weather - perfect rendition of the PHLI METAR on the climb out:

 

PHLI_Baron by wklockner, on Flickr

[Opus Software 84]

Just thought you should all know, we have conducted further tests with the winds aloft (trying to get round the erratic FSX/P3D winds aloft bug), we can now say for definite that we have found a method using global wind settings (possibly above a fixed altitude) that gives completely stable winds aloft whilst still retaining the detailed and varied weather patterns produced by the LWE. We intend implementing this method as an option in a future release, which will first see more realistic simulated winds aloft, then finally an upgrade to provide a true winds aloft option.

 

Regards

Stephen