Hope you do get it today Hook!

Will certainly be interested to hear how you like it once you have it set u p and have used it a bit.

Try this free alternative to TrackIR. If you have a webcam you already have all the hardware you need, no modification to the camera needed.

http://facetracknoir.sourceforge.net/home/default.htm

It's not bad, but after using the real thing it's like...

 

...well...

 

I can't be any more specific since this is a "family-friendly" forum, but it involves rubber.

Ordered one trackir 5 most reviews say its decent item. Fly low and slow in xplane and fsx , and drive semi in 18 wos figure put it to good use.

Let us know what numbers you settle on Hook. Mime is working well but it still can be more effective. I need to look at least 90 degrees left and right with out a sore neck. Also it is hard to look back and up to see the fuel level sight tubes in the Cub. I have not spent that much time tweaking the profile yet, But I do love it.

I just realized why I liked my flight the other night. It was not so much about what I was looking at outside as it was that I was not constantly looking at the gauges inside. Instead, I was Looking outside to get a bearing and looking inside at the gauges with a purpose. Trying to feel what the airplane needed and only glancing at the gauges when I was looking for specific information. It's subtle for sure but it makes all the difference. It's too easy to just keep staring at the gauges when they're fixed in front of you while there's not much else to look at. But that's not really engaging, and if a pilot next to me in a little Maule was flying like that, I'd pinch him to make sure he was still awake (alive?).

Let us know what numbers you settle on Hook. Mime is working well but it still can be more effective. I need to look at least 90 degrees left and right with out a sore neck. Also it is hard to look back and up to see the fuel level sight tubes in the Cub. I have not spent that much time tweaking the profile yet, But I do love it.

I don't think these numbers are universally applicable. The reaction of the camera really depends on how far you sit from the monitor and what feels comfortable really depends on how wide your monitor is and how far you are willing to move you head around.

 

What I did was make sure the leds line up exactly with the camera (do it in the 3d display view and select camera).

 

I calibrate the middle so it's less responsive, but without distinct deadzone. It has to be precise enough to select knobs with the mouse without jerking and more or less in the middle when I look forward without having to recenter the TIR.

 

Then in the graph in the advanced options I check what the maximum angle is that the software reads when I turn my head while I can still see the monitor nicely. I make the outer parts of the graph increase a lot more while keeping the middle more smoothly. In the 3d orb I check to see that I can just about see 160-170dg.

 

In the camera.cfg I raised the panning and pitching speed to be more close to zero and tweak the overall responsiveness in the TIR software.

Thanks, MommaB. Once I get familiar with the thing I'll try some of your numbers.

 

The whole idea is to keep your head out of the cockpit. That's a failing flight simmers have when they start taking real life lessons: they fixate on the gauges. One guy posted that since he got Flight, he's been looking out the window more and his flight instructor noticed. I don't know what it is, but Flight is doing something right.

 

"Out for delivery 8:36 AM" Woot! I really wasn't expecting it to make it today. :D

 

Hook

All the kitties are safe. Those who want shaved cats will have to do it themselves.

 

Got it about 18:45, had it up and running and tested in-game by 19:00. It's obviously made for people who don't like to read manuals. Just gotta make sure the TrackIR software is running before launching Flight; everything else is just plug and play. I did change the pause and reset view to joystick buttons without problems. Eventually I'll play with the various settings. The view moves around more than I would prefer, but I can adjust curves for that.

 

I was amazed at how small the camera was. About the size of a small matchbox.

 

Did a flight up to the base camp tents on McKinley, landed, flew back to Talkeetna. It does help quite a bit. I'm gonna have to relearn a bunch of stuff, but that's why I'm here, I guess. Flying a pattern is much better when you can watch the runway off to the side and the instruments at the same time.

 

When you pause TrackIR, it's just like it's not connected at all. You can pan your viewpoint, or raise or lower it, just like before you got TrackIR. The effect is there when you want, and you can turn it off if you don't.

 

If you want to go to top-down or external views, when you return to the cockpit your viewpoint has reset to default. You can keep this from happening by pausing TrackIR before you switch views, then unpausing when you return.

 

Remember I said I was getting this partially for use as neck therapy. Turns out I can turn my head farther to the left than to the right. I didn't know that before getting the TrackIR. :) This should eventually help a lot with neck flexability, and wasn't as bad when I had to hold my head steady as I thought it would be.

 

Pretty cool piece of equipment.

 

Hook

I had a feeling you might like it. :D

Pretty cool piece of equipment.

 

Glad you like it Hook, now have some serious fun!

The view moves around more than I would prefer, but I can adjust curves for that.

The Speed slider above the window with the curves acts like a modifier to the curve. Lower this to lower overall speed. Then finetune with the sliders if still needed.

Glad you like it! It may take some time to get used to, but once you are used to it, you simply look around in the virtual world as you do in real life.

I had a non-simming friend over. I sat her at the computer in the Maule cockpit, with no other instruction than to try all 6 axes of movement. She had no problems very quickly figuring out how look anywhere she wanted. "Is there any more small text I can read?" Using it is quite intuitive.

 

It surprised me how easily she could turn her head to look directly behind her. Using the same profile curves, I can see out the back window on the left and out the copilot window on the right without turning my shoulders.

 

I need to get in some more flight time, and in some different aircraft to see the differences. The Stearman should be interesting.

 

Hook

Using it is quite intuitive.

 

It certainly is. And indeed, you don't have to make large movements to look anywhere you want to!