3D cockpit - how do you navigate around it?

[SKeller 5]

Interesting. But the one thing that OpusFSX doesn't have is its own cloud textures. So you have to buy another one that does (REX?) or use a freeware one the name of which escapes me. All adds to the cost.

 

True, there aren't any cloud textures included with Opus. The freeware clouds you refer to might be HDE v2? They are actually pretty nice. Personally, I got myself FEX.

 

If you already have a weather addon, buying Opus "just" for the cameras might not seem worthwhile. Then again, Ezdok has its price as well, and TrackIR ... say no more ;-)

[Krister 51]

 and TrackIR ... say no more ;-)

TrackIR is indeed a bit pricey but if my house burnt down tomorrow the first thing I would buy is TrackIR. Then perhaps some clothes or food. I loves my TrackIR. :wub:

[Fabo 213]

There are alternatives to TrackIR that might be good for you as well (if only temporarily).

 

One is FreeTrack. The other is FaceTrackNoIR.

 

The first one works by scanning a webcam for three or four lightpoints, similar to TrackIR head thing. Except they should be in visible spectrum, unless your webcam specifically can detect IR spectrum.

The other one works by detecting your actual face and it's angle.

 

There are drawbacks, of course.

First, the obvious one - you need a webcam. But they say that one of the best is the PS3 Eye one, and that can be gotten for like 15 dollars, so still quite cheap compared to TrackIR. For FreeTrack you would also need a LED clip. (The parts are cheap, but you might be like me and not really able to make the thing yourself)

Second - they do consume some CPU time, especially the Face Track, but you should be OK with a modern quadcore processor.

Third - you need some light, you will need your face to be lighted and recognizable for FaceTrack, or you will probably have to emit some red light for FreeTrack. Depending on your simming style, this might end up annoying you...

[Ray Proudfoot 9,041]

 

 

True, there aren't any cloud textures included with Opus. The freeware clouds you refer to might be HDE v2? They are actually pretty nice. Personally, I got myself FEX.

HDE. That's it. I use them in FS9 and they are very good. If I decide on OpusFSX I will probably start with HDE and see how they look. I'll then look at alternatives like FEX and REX. I'm guessing we still don't have a SEX. :smile:  All these acronyms do get very confusing for the FSX beginner.

 

If you already have a weather addon, buying Opus "just" for the cameras might not seem worthwhile. Then again, Ezdok has its price as well, and TrackIR ... say no more ;-)

I have ActiveSkyX which I bought around 5 years ago. That might do for starters and it would give me a discount on the just-announced AS2012 update. No, I wouldn't buy Opus just for the cameras. I'm some way off a possible purchase of the 777. I need global scenery and airports first.

[A320FAN 370]

TrackIR  is ideal...

[MarkW 1,502]

I use both EZDok and TrackIR.  If I had to pick just one it would be EZDok.  I have custom views for each of the number keys on the right of my keyboard that moves we around the cockpit and gives me very nice 2D type views.

 

Ray, for the concorde I have also set up a hot button on my Yoke that is my "Landing View".  This moves my seat up and forward so I can see very nicely over the nose and also see my key instruments for landing.

[Ray Proudfoot 9,041]

 

 

Ray, for the concorde I have also set up a hot button on my Yoke that is my "Landing View". This moves my seat up and forward so I can see very nicely over the nose and also see my key instruments for landing.

Thank you Mark. That does help with a decision. How does the quality of the 3D panel compare with the 777?

[vadriver 248]

ray

 

• as2012 has its own graphics and / or you can use other's graphics.

 

and of course it has, like asx & ase, historical weather with ODD.... which i believe is a unique feature ... that one needs particularly for any "time warping / cheating" (& if you like i prefer to sim with your local time / season set to wherever you are flying).

 

• i would recommend buying a tablet so you can read the "newspaper" whilst using trackIR B)

[Ray Proudfoot 9,041]

 

ray

 

• as2012 has its own graphics and / or you can use other's graphics.

 

and of course it has, like asx & ase, historical weather with ODD.... which i believe is a unique feature ... that one needs particularly for any "time warping / cheating" (& if you like i prefer to sim with your local time / season set to wherever you are flying).

• i would recommend buying a tablet so you can read the "newspaper" whilst using trackIR B)

 

 

And I qualify for a discount with AS2012 so I'll consider that, thanks. I don't use the historical weather - only interested in current. Try not to do the warp either unless it's close to the start of a footie match.

 

Couldn't possibly contemplate reading the paper on an iPad. Some things just aren't done! :biggrin:  Anyway, I'm a bit anti-Apple with their recommended retail price policy. :angry:  The free market should reign.

[vr-pilot 11]

Hello everybody!

 

I had a nice 737NGX and 777X weekend with hours of flying. It was big fun!

I just remembered this thread and searched for it to state my personal view in "how to navigate in the 3D-Cockpit":

Actually I can not understand why anyone still uses 2D panels. I also used them for years, but that is a long time ago.

In FS9 I started using the VC in conjunction with "fs camera 2004".

Since I thought FSX would only be of equal visual experience when using a camera addon, I purchased Ezdok Camera. I think it is a great programme, full of good features and a big enhancement, but I actually don't use it a lot. I use the fsx standard "a" and "shift+a" view cycles and found the "space bar+mouse+mouse wheel"-orientation solution quite satisfying.

In march 2013 I remembered a dream (or vision) I had back in 1995, while sitting in front of my  Sublogic "ATP" pc-sim. I thought: it should be no big deal to present all this simple polygons and dots as 3D-objects via the "simple" colored glasses technology...

18 years later I searched the web for "real 3D" and decided to try the nvidia Vision2 glasses on an Asus 278 3D monitor. Head position and orientation tracking is realized with TrackIR5.

The result:

This real 3D-VC (with head position and view orientation tracking) is again one more "giant leap", as migration from 2D-panel to VC was in the fs2k2/fs9 days.

I am really looking forward to the "Oculus Rift" 3D-goggles, which will provide absolute optical immersion, changing the ballgame for the first time from "in-front-of" to "inside".

 

Greetings,

Claus

 

@Ray: I can not guarantee that You would like this kind of immersion, but I can barely imagine You won't   B)

[Ray Proudfoot 9,041]

Actually I can not understand why anyone still uses 2D panels. I also used them for years, but that is a long time ago.

 

 

Well let's not go down that path again. Each to their own eh? :wink:

 

I purchased Ezdok Camera. I think it is a great programme, full of good features and a big enhancement, but I actually don't use it a lot. I use the fsx standard "a" and "shift+a" view cycles and found the "space bar+mouse+mouse wheel"-orientation solution quite satisfying.

 

 

Just goes to show that even with a great program individual taste differ.

 

In march 2013 I remembered a dream (or vision) I had back in 1995, while sitting in front of my Sublogic "ATP" pc-sim. I thought: it should be no big deal to present all this simple polygons and dots as 3D-objects via the "simple" colored glasses technology...

 

18 years later I searched the web for "real 3D" and decided to try the nvidia Vision2 glasses on an Asus 278 3D monitor. Head position and orientation tracking is realized with TrackIR5.

 

The result:

 

This real 3D-VC (with head position and view orientation tracking) is again one more "giant leap", as migration from 2D-panel to VC was in the fs2k2/fs9 days.

 

I am really looking forward to the "Oculus Rift" 3D-goggles, which will provide absolute optical immersion, changing the ballgame for the first time from "in-front-of" to "inside".

 

 

I've always thought flight simulation lends itself to 3D if people can cope wearing glasses. But in my situation with physical hardware to operate - GoFlight modules and the MCP-Pro - that would be difficult wearing 3D glasses.

 

Ray: I can not guarantee that You would like this kind of immersion, but I can barely imagine You won't B)

 

 

My setup doesn't lend itself to them but I agree that it would add another level of realism for those with the right setup.

[vr-pilot 11]

 

I've always thought flight simulation lends itself to 3D if people can cope wearing glasses. But in my situation with physical hardware to operate - GoFlight modules and the MCP-Pro - that would be difficult wearing 3D glasses.

 

Hi Ray,

 

You are absolutely right concerning the extended hardware users (like You). Also cockpit builders can make great use of 2D-panels, which the PMDG 777X misses so far.

I had CH pedals and yoke in 1995 which I did not enjoy very much.

Between 1996 and 2002 I had a longer FS break. Between 2002 and 2005 I only flew PSS A320 with a "normal joystick" which fits "the Bus" very well.

Between 2005 and 2010 I had again a longer FS break. Since 2010 I fly the NGXs and now the T7 "exclusively" and using a sidestick for a Boeing is really silly.

So, on thinking about how to make the simming experience more immersive, I came across "my" old idea of 3D-glasses. So my "sidestick" is more a "data glove" whose inputs are reflected in the three dimensional representation of the yoke in front the PFD an ND. That (for me) comes very close to the real thing.

By pressing a joystick button I can toggle the mouse wheel between "knob turning" and "thrust lever axis", which allows moving the yokes and thrust levers simultaneously inside the 3D-space of the (any) cockpit.

The only thing missing is seeing the own hands on the yoke, thrust levers and so on. But there are people already working on it...

 

Greetings,

Claus

[Ray Proudfoot 9,041]

That's certainly an imaginative way of using FSX Claus. I do find it bizarre that a huge Airbus is controlled to a degree by what I often call "a ten quid joystick". It's obviously a lot more than 10 Pounds but the Boeing yoke just seems the right sort of hardware to use. But of course trying to eat your in-flight meal with a huge yoke in front of you is not easy! :biggrin:

 

Whilst I appreciate the huge amount of effort that has gone into the design of the 777 3D panels I still prefer to control the autopilot using real hardware. I would have liked a proper hardware FMC but the cost was astronomical and it required its own XP OS. It just wasn't an option so the PM CDU software is the next best option.

 

And the real benefit is being able to run the glass cockpit and CDU on a separate PC which greatly reduces the burden on the FSX PC. But I am still tempted by the 777 because it looks superb and with EzDok it's possible to change views with a press of a button.

 

PC was ordered today and I'll take delivery in 2 weeks. Then the fun starts.

[vr-pilot 11]

Hi Ray!

I wish You very much fun with the new PC and that the two weeks won't take too long. :blink:

 

I don't know if You have read it already, but the PMDG introduction manual that came with the 777X installation (can be found in the PMDG operations center programme), is a good guide and very much worth reading. Especially when it comes to installation (drives, paths, folder options etc.) and performance optimisation, it might be a good idea to follow those tricks already during your fresh fsx installation. (I would do so, if I had to do a new install.)

 

I will buy a new PC (or gamer notebook) at the earliest next year. My "old"  Sony Vaio (see "My PC"), bought in december 2010, still does a good Job: I can fly the T7 fluently over and around e.g. EGLL with UTX (no bridges, no car traffic, but with engaged night  lighting ), GEX, UT2 (40%IFR, 20%VFR), GSX, AS2012, RC4 with FSX sliders between 50 and 75 %, except miscellaneous traffic (<30%) and LOD. LOD is all to the left, which is very easy on performance and btw provides a soft image that is closer to reality, imo. I run 1280x720x32, which is sufficient in Nvidia-3D-glasses-mode in combination with TrackIR, as I can "take a closer look" at the instruments, which I can not read while leaning back in the pilot's seat. (E.g. the ILS/LOC info or the preselected barometer value on the PFD.)

Max visibility is limited by fsx to 60 NM, limited further by AS2012 gradual visibility change: ground max. 10 SM changing gradually to 60NM @ 28000 ft. (Low ground visibility is easy on performance for taxiing on large airports.)

 

I am just writing this, because I sometimes wonder why some T7 users have more performance problems as with the NGX. For me both are running equally good (and it is all like a dream come true, especially during dawn)...

 

 

Always happy landings,

 

Claus

[Ray Proudfoot 9,041]

I wish You very much fun with the new PC and that the two weeks won't take too long. :blink:

 

Thanks Claus. I am the patient type and can wait. Quite different to my youth when I would have been very impatient.

 

I don't know if You have read it already, but the PMDG introduction manual that came with the 777X installation (can be found in the PMDG operations center programme), is a good guide and very much worth reading.

 

 

I haven't because in my list of priorities it's well down the list. I have to make FSX look better first and get my applications working before considering the 777. I started this thread more out of curiosity than a definite purchase. I'm not ruling it in or out but there are other more important things I need to do first. But thanks for the advice.

 

I will buy a new PC (or gamer notebook) at the earliest next year. My "old" Sony Vaio (see "My PC"), bought in december 2010, still does a good Job: I can fly the T7 fluently over and around e.g. EGLL ...

 

 

You've done very well to fly such a complex aircraft in such a demanding application with that spec. Remember the old adage... buy the fastest processor you can't afford! :biggrin:

 

I am just writing this, because I sometimes wonder why some T7 users have more performance problems as with the NGX. For me both are running equally good (and it is all like a dream come true, especially during dawn)

 

 

It's all down to getting the settings right and not being over ambitious. You've done well.