I was a long time ASX to ASE to AS2012 user until I tried the demo for OpusFSX and instantly loved how the wx engine depicted the weather.

Once winds aloft is added OpusFSX will be, imo, the best wx engine FSX has seen to date.

 

BUT...I have spent several days trying to get the camera shake effects to play nice with TrackIR 5, and I've given up and gone back to EZCA.

My major gripes about the camera system:

 

- overall the shaking effects were absolutely jerky and non-realistic for me. I tried several days of tweaking and tips suggested in the manuals/forums and still couldn't get smooth shaking effects. At one point during a flight the camera would shift left/right rapidly as if I moved my head quickly then snapped back to the correct head orientation, creating a very dizzying "flicker" effect that made flying pretty much impossible

 

- the smoothness of TrackIR went into the toilet, no matter how much I played with the smoothness and sensitivity sliders both in TrackIR and the OpusFSX software. I tried it with precision mode on/off...no difference

 

- only way to switch cameras in the interface is pressing a button, getting a popup window, and then pressing another button to make the switch. In EZCA, you can just click right in the interface window to quickly cycle through cameras and view modes without extra pop up windows

 

- no way to cycle through cameras with just two keybinds, i.e. going forward and backward through the list. Every camera has to be assigned to a key (I know that multiple cameras can be assigned to the same key, but you always cycle forward through the cameras...there's no way to cycle backwards, another function that EZCA provides and is extremely useful in navigating my VC)

 

- no way to assign keybinds to move the cameras during edit mode; you HAVE to use the arrow buttons which for me is a huge turn off. I pretty much rely heavily on keyboard shortcuts, as opposed to being a mouse click guy. Limiting keyboard shortcuts in any software for me is a real drag

 

Overall, the one thing that stood out for me is the amount of tweaking/adjusting you seem to have to do in order for TrackIR to work smoothly with the Live Camera system. When I reinstalled EZCA and setup my cameras again, the camera was smooth straight out of the box. No tweaking or adjusting, and I'm not forced to use precision mode (which I can't stand to use).

The dynamic head movements also don't jitter all over the place and jerk around. I know OpusFSX is still in development so I'll wait and see how the camera system gets improved, but right now I just refuse to use it and will stick with EZCA in the meantime.

Several days of tweaking/adjusting slider bars and sensitivity values isn't what I look forward to when I buy something new, but fortunately for me I have something to fall back on.

 

I'm still happy I bought it and I still plan on using the wx engine for every flight! Can't wait to see how OpusFSX evolves from here, but imo the camera system needs serious work so it performs seamlessly with any type of system it's installed on.

I was on the point of saying the same thing about the shake effects. Not in as much detail but close. I never bother with all the various 'views' but the shaking stuff was causing my some grief! TrackIR and camera shake didn't want to play nicely together so I was resigned to doing without it. Then, like ya do, I had one more fiddle with all the settings. Wouldn't you know, it now works very nicely.

I have to say, I feel that these settings are tenuous and that the next update will wreck them. However, updated to 2.30.2 and nothing broke.

Hang in there. If it helps I could send you my settings and see if they make a difference for you.

Thanks Ron, but at this point I'm stepping away from Live Camera or else I'm afraid I might start smoking to cope with the stress.

Never smoked in my life either!

Just purchased OpusFSX today, so still trying to figure it out.

 

The Live Weather effects are VERY good and I'm enjoying that A LOT. I have no basis for comparison, being a flightsim "noob" but so far, and for this component, Opus is deserving of all the praise I've read.

 

Regards the Live Camera, got some views set up pretty quickly without consulting the manual. A pilot view, right console view, and a left console view assigned to a specific aircraft wasn't terribly trying.

 

The technical aspects of integrating with TrackIR, such as updating TrackIR and re-naming simconnect files, were not difficult. However, probably going need a complete re-think of how to use the products togther. Button re-programming, key command re-assignment, and overall usage techniques to manage the VC will be up for change. The 2 products are not working very easily or intuitively together.

 

It took me a good while to get TrackIR working comfortably. Undoubtedly, a similar process and length of time will be required to get OpusFSX/TrackIR "straight". There is a real possibility that at the end of the testing, one of the products could be destined for the virtual shelf. Who knows.

 

For tonight, it's RTFM. :-)

Same here, but only I fly in 2D.

Want some turbulence on the aircraft, not a shaking camera with a steady plane.

I use opus fsx now with Ezdok, The live cameras is a 'nice' feature, but not very well implemented into FSX.

Some, more considered, impressions after dinking around a bit...

 

Opus recommends starting TrackIR and FSX before OpusFSX. Definitely want to take this advice. Using Opus instructions, I sent Opus to be started by FSX. So just open TrackIR (minimized), then run FSX.

 

DHM (Dynamic Head Movement) and TrackIR DO NOT play well together on my system. All kinds of jerky, flashing graphics glitches in any kind of turbulence. I've disabled DHM for now.

 

TrackIR in precision mode..a must for smooth view movement.

 

I set 2 buttons on my joystick to control TrackIR center and pan toggle. The coolest thing is that TrackIR center comes back to whatever Opus view currently set, so no more jinking my head around to get TrackIR centered as I move my butt around in the seat.

 

Because TrackIR is interfacing with OpusFSX instead of FSX, I had to create a new TrackIR profile and assign to Opus in TrackIR settings. A basic one-to-one profile is working very smoothly and comfortably.

 

So far, the integration between Opus and TrackIR is better than first impressions but A LOT of details and some experimentation is in order. I'm still not done but feeling more at ease with running both.

 

Hope this helps...more fiddling around today....

I bought Opus yesterday, and it works flawlessly with TIR5. There's just one small bug: when I zoom in using TIR, like when setting the altimeter, I usually pause TIR. When I do this, the view returns to default now. Other than this, I don't even need precision enabled. It just works...maybe I'm just lucky, I don't know. I love the DHM and the wx engine. I just had to reduce the vibration effect in the DHM because at full throttle it caused vibrations... well, it can be good during the takeoff roll, but when cruising at 10000 feet (in the legacy)...no thanks

 

This program is really good. It deserves 5 stars, imho.

 

Cheers

Fede

When I first bought opus live camera drove me nuts and went back to ezka.It takes awhile to get used to it but once you do get the hang of it you ain't going back to ezka.

 

My 0.2

Thanks Ron, but at this point I'm stepping away from Live Camera or else I'm afraid I might start smoking to cope with the stress.

Never smoked in my life either!

 

Wow! Everything that your saying here is just not true with me. Opus camera is MUCH better than EZCA. Much easier to setup. Shake is much better. TrackIR works much smoother (that was the first thing that I noticed). Transition from one camera to another is with the touch of a key, smooth and consistent.

If everything is working this good for me, it makes me wonder why you are having so much trouble.

It took me a while to get the hang of setting up the cameras, but I will never go back to EZCA now.

Some people will have to experiment with the TIR Settings to achieve a smooth operation and even try different TIR drivers. Our documentation and Flight1 forum has additional info. In addition some systems won't be capable of rendering the DHM effects correctly, if AHM works well in test mode in the dialog then your system should render DHM well.

 

Regards

Cheryl

That's my whole point Cheryl. I spent an enormous amount of time trying to get t all working, close to 8 hours over two days.

Another user just said a post above it worked right away with no problems.

Obviously the software likes certain hardware setups more then others. I wouldn't say anything to that except the majority of feedback I've seen from ezca shows a minimum of tweaking to get trackir working smooth.

 

If they can do it I'm sure you guys can too.

What is it about EZCA that makes people want to use a different program? Does something not work right? Is something missing?

 

Sure, I encourage people to try something new, but if it's going to be that much problem for some people, why bother?

 

Hook

Just to throw another log onto the fire...so to speak, I struggled for hours trying to get the cockpit wobbly bits in EZCA and not a squeek! By contrast Opus was a doddle.

I'm not sure that different TIR drivers are the answer but changing the rate of my TIR FSX profile made the difference. When I say the rate, by that I mean raising the whole line in the rotation speed settings. Not by much, just a couple of clicks.

To reiterate, I don't use the 'views' part so I can't add anything to the discussion on that aspect.

I'm in my NGX-600 right now making a flight from KSEA to KSFO. My Opus skies are literally full of beautiful bellowing clouds as far as the eye can see. Thick and so realistic. I can't see a trace of land below.

My cameras are working perfectly. Hit a key and it smoothly transitions to a new camera view. Cockpit rumbled and vibrated perfectly on take off. Now, in the air, just a slight vibration, as I make my climb to cruise altitude.

Opus couldn't work more perfectly. I'm sorry, I simply did not have this with EZCA. This is solid camera control with gorgeous skies, that are just full of clouds.

Opus is some of the best money that I've spent on flight simulator. I absolutely love the program!