Started  when I got the js4100  since you got no choice but  to use vc

Just get some hours in and you'll suddenly find you won't want to go back, I made the switch starting in FS9 and Xplane 9.

 

For me being able to look around using Track IR was the difference especially in a combat sim and for civilian sims being able to keep the runway in sight was transformational.

 

I occasionally use a pop up for hard to reach places such as a quick flight engineer panel setting in the Simcheck A300B4.

i got hooked the minute it was introduced in FS2002 i think it was about 600 years ago. i was even happy with the awful blurs from the default 737

 

now i have ended up with 3 x 19 inch screens (matrox 3head), trackir, ezdock.

 

Point of irritation can be the apparent changes the speed/smoothness of track ir tends to do and the change in initial point of view.

 

You will have to create a comfortable system of accessing axises or buttons so to constantly adjust your eye point back to your starting point. It takes getting used to.

 

Use the - and + buttons to de/increase your zoom factor. the VC (especially with multiple monitor setup) requires 40 percent in my case to avoid tunnelvision and too rapid head movement.

but on final approach i prefer to zoom to 50/60 percent for more realistic outside view.

Oh I remember the days back when I was only flying in spot view... Couldn't believe how I got my landings as smooth and spot on every time after I transitioned to the VC! Now I'm mostly looking at VC quality and less on the external model when buying add-ons.

 

I think a large monitor with at least 1920x1080px is a must I would never ever go back from my 27" to the 17"...

FS9 User :I was the same for a long time 2D only and never used the VC.. Then I upgraded the computer , bought a Triplehead2Go from Matrox, 3 x 24" screens plus a 4th for other things like charts, skyvector etc. I only fly VC now and I hide the 2D panels using the W key to ensure no 'crazy mouse' issues (PMDG 747 especially).

The best VCs in my fleet are iFly 737, PMDG 747-400, Flight1 ATR (except for blurry AP at night - anyone got a fix for this?), Carenado Twins are also very good. Level-D 767 is better with the HD VC upgrade from Zinertek.. Airsimmer A320 is a great VC for FS9 but I find it can upset the joystick assignments.

I use the Saitek Radio/AP and Switch panel which I find works best with iFly.



Rgds, john

what exactly do you hate about it and what exactly do you like about simming ie what is it that draws you to simming .

 

I've been drawn to flight simming since I was 3 years old. It's the reason I went to Embry Riddle and FlightSafety Academy after high school. I still use it for 2 reasons: 1. It gives me a chance to fly aircraft I don't get to fly in real life. 2. It gives me a chance to fly in parts of the world I don't get to fly in. 

 

My computer is plenty powerful for FSX. I run the NGX (and other aircraft comparable in quality) anywhere between 30 and 60 FPS depending if I'm on the ground or in flight. I also have a 24" monitor. I lied a little in my original post.......I do like the VC and TrackIR for taxiing and final approach. I hate trying to look at the overhead and radio panels.......esp with TrackIR. I like how PMDG has all of the "A" spots set up for the VC, but again..... if your gonna use those or EZdok, why not just use the 2D panels? I guess for me it's just easier to click a spot on the main panel to bring up an auxiliary panel than to contort my neck with TrackIR or cycle through a handful of views to find what I'm looking for. Another forum member brought up a good point in another thread, one dedicated to questioning why PMDG is doing away with 2D panels, about how using a 3D panel (the VC) on a 2D surface (monitor) made it difficult for him to make the transition. Since we all live in a 3D world and some of us fly in real 3D cockpits, I can see where he was coming from. I've done a lot of flying with the J41 since I purchased it. I just feel like I'm not making any progress getting comfortable with the VC. I'm still going to buy the T7 when it comes out and just like with the J41, it'll force me to fly with the VC. Not to criticize anyone in this thread, but I wasn't asking why everyone transitioned to the VC. I was asking for those that had difficulty, like myself, to share with me what helped them do so. That's all. Thanks for the feedback!

 

Airsimmer A320 is a great VC for FS9 but I find it can upset the joystick assignments.

 

 

 

I put off purchasing a quality Airbus since the current one on the market doesn't have 2D panels while another one in production does.

Got the NGX

Then EZdoc

Converted instantly.

Regards

Guss.

I put off purchasing a quality Airbus since the current one on the market doesn't have 2D panels while another one in production does.

 

Ahh, but the current one on the market is actually in my opinion the easiest plane to transition to VC-only flying because of the camera control it comes with. In the top left of the screen they put a little arrow that folds out to a selection of the different views in the VC. All you have to do is click on the one with the picture of what you want and it changes your view there. For instance, when I program the FMC, I click on the icon of the FMC and my view in the VC is now on that. You don't have to worry about 2D panels with it at all; it has VC views the completely eliminate that need.

Ahh, but the current one on the market is actually in my opinion the easiest plane to transition to VC-only flying because of the camera control it comes with. In the top left of the screen they put a little arrow that folds out to a selection of the different views in the VC. All you have to do is click on the one with the picture of what you want and it changes your view there. For instance, when I program the FMC, I click on the icon of the FMC and my view in the VC is now on that. You don't have to worry about 2D panels with it at all; it has VC views the completely eliminate that need.

 

Oh wow I did not know that. Does the camera transition like with EZdok or is it like hitting the "A" key to cycle through? Based on what you know about the 2 companies, which do you think will come out on top in the end? I know the one that is out was really buggy at first but have since released several updates. I also own the other aircraft produced by the company who has an Airbus in production and I absolutely love it. 

Oh wow I did not know that. Does the camera transition like with EZdok or is it like hitting the "A" key to cycle through? Based on what you know about the 2 companies, which do you think will come out on top in the end? I know the one that is out was really buggy at first but have since released several updates. I also own the other aircraft produced by the company who has an Airbus in production and I absolutely love it. 

 

It does not make a smooth pan like EZdok if that's what you mean, but I don't really notice that. I think the one in production is aimed to be more in-depth than the one already on the market, but I can't say for sure until it's out. All I know is that after all the updating the current one is very well done and I enjoy flying it. They are adding in dimmable displays and terrain on the nav display soon on that one as well. The one in production is also going to take an unknown amount of time, so I think the current one out is definitely worth it.

For me, I much preferred 2D in FS2004, even in planes like the PMDG 737NG and LDS 767 which (at the time!) had good VCs.      Performance was a factor, but mainly, I just preferred 2D and the nice access to MCP etc.

 

FSX was when I transitioned to 100% VC use; mainly though buying TrackIR in late 2006, and also the quality of VCs increasing exponentially.

 

But........... I still 100% prefer to use FMC's from a 2D pop-up panel!!

FSX + EZdok did it for me.  

 

I picked up FSX in the bargain bin at Best Buy about this time last year after being absent from flight simulation for several years.  Prior to my absence I was firmly entrenched in the 2D camp and couldn't stand virtual cockpits at all.  They were nothing but a distraction as far as I was concerned.

 

Everything changed once I realized I could easily assign EZdok views to my joystick buttons.  I've got a Saitek X52 controller, and I program the three views I use the most to the clock buttons on the throttle, and program the three toggle buttons to generally correspond to views inside the cockpit.  (center toggle up = overhead panel, center toggle down = throttle, etc).

 

To me it's even more intuitive and immersive.  If a particular add-on has useful 2D panels I might use them, too, but generally my whole experience is inside the VC now and I love it.

It all started with Track IR4 about 4 years ago? I was still using FS9 at the time. The PMDG 747 and Level-D 767 were the aircraft that made me think twice about utilizing the VC. It's there, it's modeled, why not use it? 

 

I cant go back anymore. It's amazing to see how far development of aircraft and scenery has become. With the amount of detail in modern FS aircraft VC's and amazing artwork of some of the scenery designers, the VC allows you to get the full immersion of flying. 

 

In my eyes, it's the best way to get everything our of your hard earned cash.

 

Cheers, 

maybe you bought too much hardware to use the VC.... I like yourself am a real life pilot and have been simming since i was 7 years old, transitioning to the VC was the most difficult thing I ever did in the virtual world but today I dont even miss the 2d panels.

 

Maybe you should try a couple of flights without the track IR or any of that stuff, just the top hat button on the CH yoke and configure the other buttons to use the eyepoint view movement and see if you like it. It took me a while to get comfortable but I came around, sure you can too.

OHH and the perfect airplane to transition from 2d to virtual cockpit is the airbus Extended.....

OHH and the perfect airplane to transition from 2d to virtual cockpit is the airbus Extended.....

I disagree. The perfect plane to move to 3d only is the 737NGX.

 

My trick is Ctrl+Backspace/Ctrl+Enter and Shift+Ctrl+Backspace/Shift+Ctrl+Enter.

 

Get the eye position near enough to as far back as you can go before having the eye point inside the captain's seat and slightly to the right of centre of the seat.

 

That way at 65% zoom you should see the whole MCP including altitude window, PFD/ND/EICAS all in view.

 

Spacebar+mouse movement and mousewheel to zoom in and out as required.

 

No money spent on addons.

 

Forward planning so you don't need to do things to the FMS when the autopilot is off.

 

Left hand on yoke or stick so the right hand is on mouse for the MCP/Radios/throttle etc when handflying.

 

 

 

I used to fly 2D panel all the time, started off using FS98, moved up to 2002/FS9. PIC767/LDS767 always on the 2D.

 

When I moved to FSX, I stayed with 2D panels (and LDS767) for quite a while, but soon several addons started putting out good quality 3D VC's. PMDG NGX was still in the works, so I was flying around in the E190, PMDG 747, PMDG MD11 etc.

 

The main reason I went to the 3D was because I was starting to make videos, and recognized that the Virtual cockpit was better on video than the 2D. So after flying a few "Cross the Pond" flyins entirely on 3D, I started to get used to it. There was something easy about just pressing the hat switch for half a second to get to the FMS and start programming, instead of grabbing the mouse, clicking the right icon etc.

 

About that time I started being involved in WorldFlight as crew fairly regularly. After learning the 737-800 from a sit-in cockpit, I knew that certain buttons were in various positions in a 3D environment. (Reach up and right to grab certain things on the overhead, down and back to get things on the pedistal, etc) and these movements weren't translating to positions on the 2D cockpit (ie click an icon to bring up overhead and now some button is on the bottom left of the screen, instead of "Reach up and right" as it was in the actual cockpit).

 

The 3D cockpit 'felt' right. The 'feeling' of "Reach up and click a switch about half an armlength to the right" translated to "Move the point of view up and right" easier than "Click an icon and now that switch is on the bottom, left of centre".

 

The main reason I switched though, was for the videos.

The reason I stayed in 3D, and now use it pretty much exclusively is that after a few months of using 3D cockpits, I got used to it. It "clicked" in my brain and actually makes more sense than 2D panels now to me.

 

Also, actually "looking" out the side windows when running a visual approach off a Circuit, or NPA, is just so much easier in VC. Move the viewpoint and it will stay there till you want to move it again, instead of the 2D "Push hatswitch forward+left to see a view 45° left, but as soon as you let go of the hatswitch you are looking forward again". Sometimes you just want to look 20 degrees left and leave it there to judge descent angle for a few seconds but at the same time adjust your speed on the Autothrottle (Because you know the descent angle will change when you do that, so you want to look at the runway at the same time... the runway which is 20 degrees to your left and diverging from "forward" as you develop the base leg.)