I've upgraded my networked simulator set to include 5 PCs driving displays at 0 degrees (straight ahead), 30 degrees left and right, and 90 degrees left and right. I'm finding it impossible to get the +/- 30 degree views to even vaguely align. I thought it would be a relatively simple process by ensuring the same aircraft was loaded on all systems, ensuring the zoom factor was set the same on all cameras, then simply yawing the displays to the appropriate value (-90, -30, 0, +30, +90), but that doesn't produce even a vaguely correct result -- the +/- 30 degree views are even close to aligned. Even the +90 degree view (left) has something horribly wrong with it -- the horizon is a good 30 degrees off-level (although the right window looks perfect).

 

This is driving me crazy. Is anybody else using multiple displays with networked systems and getting good results with their view alignments?

 

-M.

Hi Mark

 

We are not cockpit builders and I cannot claim to be an expert on this matter. I know there are numerous pages and forum posts given over to the perennial problem of view alignment on the cockpi builder sites. Perhaps if you could give further details of your setup some experience cockpit builders could help out here. What screen sizes are you using? Are you using identical displays?

 

I will try and help the best I can, but I'm afraid that help will be rather limited. When we get back into the office we will see if we can root out some info for you that might help.

 

Regards

Stephen

 

My setup is relatively simple: I have five "view" displays, all identical 25" 16:9 Asus monitors running at 1920x1080 resolution. Each is driven by its own PC (which are all higher-end systems; Intel [email protected], 8GB RAM, nVidia 550Ti cards or better). My "flying" system also drives an additional display for instrument panels.

 

The monitors are physically setup at 0 degrees, +/- 45 degrees (I'm experimenting) and +/- 90 degrees.

 

I've been using WidevieW for years, and started with the left and right "45" views setup with a +/- 45 degree viewing angle and a zoom factor of 1.2, with the fsx.cfg WideViewAspect set to true for all monitors. The view alignment with WidevieW at these settings is very good -- with a tiny amount of tweaking of the yaw and zoom factors the panoramic view becomes nigh-perfect.

 

Using the same starting point settings with LiveView, the view alignment isn't even close to correct.

 

After some experimentation, I'm able to get a reasonable view setting by yawing to +/- 58 degrees (for the 45-degree monitors), and then making fairly massive (and for some reason, different) zoom adjustments on the two "45" degree views -- on the left monitor I set to zoom 1.0 and on the right I had to zoom out to .6. At these settings the panoramic view is decent, and the horizon stays reasonably level during a banked turn. It's not as good as WidevieW by any means, but it's flyable.

 

As an interesting (and completely unrelated) side note, after my testing with WidevieW finished, I stopped the WidevieW server and clients, but forgot to disable the WideTraffic server and clients. It turns out WideTraffic works with OpusFSX LiveView -- the traffic on my "flying" server (both ground and aerial) is faithfully replicated on the "scenic" servers.

 

Now if only I could get weather to work with OpusFSX, I'd consider myself a happy camper. That problem is for a separate post to come.....

 

-M.

Disregard the last part of my previous post. It turns out that both OpusFSX and Wideview servers were running at the same time -- that's why WIdeTraffic was working, and that's why my views were working. I have no idea why WidevieW took precedence over LiveView, but once I made sure that WideView wasn't running any more, the view alignments went to crap again and now I can't get them aligned at all. Sigh.

Hi Mark

 

The angles you configure are passed directly on to FSX for the view type. I am not surprised the angle is different, it will be different for different view types. It all depends how the views are defined or declared to FSX, and it is FSX that displays them. There's no magic in between processing, the software simply passes your settings to FSX and FSX adjusts they eye position. Please do not expect the settings to be the same with FSX when the views are defined differently. FSX simply does not work that way and you are comparing apples with oranges. The same reasoning is applied to the zoom factors. Your zoom settings are simply passed on to FSX as is, without change. The view you get depends entirely on how and what type of view has been defined. If you are defining one in a cfg file and the other is just a modified internal view, then again, you have apples an oranges as far as FSX is concerned, so please do not expect the same settings to work. FSX does not work that way. So no wonder it's not even close - you are using the settings for a different view.

 

The weather is straight forward, make sure the weather files can be copied. The client and server machines need to access each other, both ways. That means setting the sharing on the disk drives, setting the security, permissions etc. as described in the Getting Started guide, and doing this for two way access of files. All systems also need access to the FSX installation folders, these paths must also be defined correctly within the configuration on all of your systems.

 

WideTraffic is bound to work, it just does its own thing and relays the traffic. One process is completely independent of the other.

 

Stephen

 

Mark

 

Are you creating 2D scenic wires for your panoramic views. You should be, and you must set the XYZ, pitch, bank, and yaw for each view in accordance with the needs of the view. Forget your previous settings. The Live Camera interface gives you complete control over the XYZ, PBY, and zoom. Whatever you set for the XYZPBY, is passed on to FSX unaltered, the zoom is adjusted referenced to the default zoom factors (i assume they are the same and using the same unaltered reference on all your system). These settings are the only settings FSX.

 

Stephen

Are the sharing settings for weather the same as those for cameras? I.e., if cameras are saved correctly, should the weather be saved correctly as well?

 

Here is what I see (attached as a quick-and-dirty panoramic photo). The right-45 degree view is actually the "flying" system; the others are clients. This was at an airport in Mason, TX where it was definitely raining. Rain is happening in all views, but the clouds are, as you can see, pretty inconsistent in two of the views.

 

Any suggestions?

 

-M.

Mark

 

If you can't manage to set your views up using a system of 2D scenic views, which I don't know why, you can always define them yourself in the FSX or aircraft cfg files the same as you was before. If the views are defined in the cfg files or FSX file then they are just declared manually. No big deal, if those views work on your system... The Live View interface will still update your system irrespective of how the views are defined or set up, whether manually configuring the files, or using the Live Camera tools, and Live Camera is only that, a tool for setting up mostly 2D scenic views or external aircraft views on your client systems. There is nothing wrong with configuring the views manually within the FSX and aircraft cfg files .. If that is what works on your system then why change the view definitions, FSX doesn't care.

 

The sharing, security, permissions must be set identically on all systems in accordance with our Getting Started guide. For Live Weather all systems need to be able to read and write files to each others c:\OpusFSX folder, they access files. Share the drives and not the folders. Make sure all systems can access the servers files, make sure the server can access the clients files etc. to get the same cloud systems make sure you have the same identical sky and cloud textures installed everywhere. Make sure all systems are clock sync'd... This will happen during a weather update also. Make sure all systems know where FSX is installed so they can update the weather within their own FSX.

 

Once again, you do not have to use the Live Camera tool for your views, if you have them set up manually then just use those settings. But if you do decide to use Live Camera please do not compare apples with oranges. If you cannot get the views you want by adjusting the XYZPBY and zoom settings then there is no other controls within FSX to use. You have the choice. Set you views up manually or use Live Camera. FSX just displays the views you define.

 

Just read your post. So Live Weather does work ... Just your clouds are different. Check your cloud textures, check you have let the system settle before connecting and that the FSX clocks sync. If you do that then you will get the same clouds.

 

Stephen

 

No the sharing is not the same. Weather needs to access files in both directions and all systems need to update their FSX files. On the two systems that are different I would bet the weather is not updating at all. Please check all your config settings and check and validate each system in turn. One at a time to ensure you are getting the weather updates and seeing the same clouds (i.e. have the same textures loaded with the correct time sync). As for the views, do the same and feel free to use the manual method if you feel you cannot achieve your results using 2D views with the Live Camera tool. It is just a tool but you can set the system up manually as you did before, FSX won't mind, just turn Live Camera off and use you the same camera definitions you were using before. As far as I am aware, in WideView you just set everything up manually, well you can do the same in OpusFSX.

 

Stephen

 

Mark

 

Try setting them up one at a time and verifying the weather and view, take it one at a time.

 

Stephen

Stephen,

 

I'll do as you suggest (doing each system one at a time). With so many clients it's easy to miss a setting on one of them. It took me quite a while to get all of the scenery matched up and in the same priority sequence!

 

I am, by the way, using only 2D views for my cameras and am trying to define them as simply as possible. The LiveCamera controller is a much nicer way to manage the cameras than the manual setup method in WidevieW (which is why I'm putting so much effort into figuring out why I can't seem to get the views to align).

 

-M.

Mark

 

I'm not quite sure what manual changes you made to the FSX view configuration to get WideView working. Live Camera will of course just assume a standard FSX set up with standard FSX 2D views. My thought was, if you have already gone to the trouble of manually setting your system up for WideView then why bother changing, just use the same manual view set up with OpusFSX. If you want to change and set up with Live Camera then make sure you have undone all the manual changes and put it back to standard.

 

Your central two systems definitely look as if they have completely different weather. I take it you are not running more than one weather engine on your system (REX and AS2012 must be disabled and not running at all, make sure you are not running them automatically on start up!). The weather updates differ from camera updates in that the clients need to be able to access the server's installation folder and copy the weather files onto its own system before updating FSX. Hence, you need to set up the sharing and permissions etc.for both way access.

 

Looks like your two side views are showing the VC because they have been rotated in Yaw more than 45 degrees. Try moving the eye point forward 2 metres in all views so that the VC is behind you.

 

Stephen