The new 777 sure looks beautiful. The PMDG guys are no longer going to incorporate any 2D cockpit functionality into the 777 and beyond like they did with the 737NGX, other than maybe some hot pop-ups or 'views' say for the FMC. Does this mean we will need the EZCA or similar system to get to the various flight instrumentation?

 

Regards

I think, a part from 777 pmdg, EZCA is a must have for all your type of flights.

 

I use it with my trackIR 5 and works perfectly and it's very usefull to switch froma view to another, like fmc, mcp, pfd, overhead and so on.

 

Think about purchase it, it's worth!

Humbug, I say! While EZCA undoubtedly offers a nice set of useful features and is worthy of consideration when choosing your add-ons, let us not forget that FSX in and of itself is perfectly capable of switching between cockpit views. Press "S" to cycle forwards, and "Shift-S" to go backwards. Sure, it's not as smooth, snazzy and flexible as EZCA's system, but it does the trick in a pinch. Map the "switch views" functions to some joystick buttons and add a POV hat to the mix, and you've got yourself a very serviceable "Poor Man's Cockpit View Management System™".

I do not know how I could go without it. This is a no-brain purchase now that I know how useful it is. Track IR was also but I understand why people do not have it.

Humbug, I say! While EZCA undoubtedly offers a nice set of useful features and is worthy of consideration when choosing your add-ons, let us not forget that FSX in and of itself is perfectly capable of switching between cockpit views. Press "S" to cycle forwards, and "Shift-S" to go backwards. Sure, it's not as smooth, snazzy and flexible as EZCA's system, but it does the trick in a pinch. Map the "switch views" functions to some joystick buttons and add a POV hat to the mix, and you've got yourself a very serviceable "Poor Man's Cockpit View Management System™".

You wouldn't be saying humbug if you wanted to create your own set of camera views that are in different locations to the ones that come with an aircraft. The manual way of doing it takes about 20 times longer than doing it with EZdok. Adding one camera on average took me about 6 minutes to place manually by editing views in a text editor. The same thing takes seconds in EZdok and requires no knowledge of the FSX view coordinates system.

Or, you could get the Opus weather engine and get great weather plus a view system that is equal to EZCA.

Humbug, I say! While EZCA undoubtedly offers a nice set of useful features and is worthy of consideration when choosing your add-ons, let us not forget that FSX in and of itself is perfectly capable of switching between cockpit views. Press "S" to cycle forwards, and "Shift-S" to go backwards. Sure, it's not as smooth, snazzy and flexible as EZCA's system, but it does the trick in a pinch. Map the "switch views" functions to some joystick buttons and add a POV hat to the mix, and you've got yourself a very serviceable "Poor Man's Cockpit View Management System™".

 

Dont take this advise........yes it can work, but its more work than its worth.  EZCA can be all custom to what you like and really nice with TrackerIR 5

EZCA or equivalent is a must for VC ... no turning back to sad old 2D now !

 

Go get it and try it, a bit fiddly at first but I guarantee you will never go back

I was an EZCA fan until I removed it to try OPUS and saw the frame-rate hit EZCA imposed on my system. Might not be a problem for users with a more powerful machine - it's still a good add-on.

I had ECZA but then I upgraded to Windows 8 - which is not supported. Opus is great.

I have no problem with TrackIR, pesonally i like the idea of having to stretch my neck over to reach certain switches on the overhead, or look down to mess with the MCDU, the only thing i would need EZCA for is to do walkarounds on the external of the aircraft.

hi,

 

I personally use EZCA only for the effects it brings to the simulation. I have been exclusively using trackIR in VC for a long time now and discovered EZCA only recently. Now I can't fly without it. I especially love the ground effects with the viewing trembling during rolling and the "shock" effect on landing. You really feel how hard is your landing.

Regarding the custom views, I use it only to set a correct VC pilot view on some addons where the view is not correctly set to my point of view.

OK all, I see that it is "possible" to set up or cycle though views within FSX, not ideal.

 

The main response so far has been to go with either EZCA or get the weather add-on Opus, which comes with a camera set up similar to EZCA. I thought this would be the case after trying to navigate about the 737NGX 3D cockpit in FSX only and finding it a tad frustrating.

 

I have been resisting going this way in the hope PMDG would continue to provide a 3D/2D environment. However, as this seems to be not the case for the 777 and 747v2, and as I want to continue with PMDG products, will just have accept it and move onto a camera platform.

Thanks for the responses.

 

Regards 

I figured out how to basically just use it in the VC and love it. Still able to pan around the spot view and passenger views! Not even sure how I did it - by accident really LOL.

Having just tried the Opus demo for several days, I purchase EZDOK and definitely feel it is the superior product for cameras, viewpoints and flying immersion.  I regret I did not buy it sooner for all my planes.

 

Going VC will be just as easy as 2D using Ezdok, just need a bit of patience to set it up. But then again, easier yet, I'm sure you can easily download and import an already made camera file for any PMDG product out there.