I was thinking about purchasing TrackIR 5 but realized there are free alternatives. But are they any good and do they actually work without lagging and being annoying?

Thanks Guys 

They work fine as far as I've heard from people I know who use these alternatives. It used to be quite ghetto but things have come a long way, not the least of which is related to the much higher average quality of most cheaper webcams these days.

 

Trackir is really nice but I'm not sure I'd pay for another one if my TIR5 broke. Its just much too overpriced in my opinion and I've also come to really dislike Naturalpoint's business practices.

 

When I bought it I was cash flush, newly single and spoiling myself, but I'm ultimately more of a DIY guy. If you can stomach tinkering and troubleshooting then the free alternatives should be more than adequate and honestly for the value (ie. free) its unbeatable even if its slightly less effective which I honestly don't think it is anymore, where it may have been in the earlier days.

They work fine as far as I've heard from people I know who use these alternatives. It used to be quite ghetto but things have come a long way, not the least of which is related to the much higher average quality of most cheaper webcams these days.

 

Trackir is really nice but I'm not sure I'd pay for another one if my TIR5 broke. Its just much too overpriced in my opinion and I've also come to really dislike Naturalpoint's business practices.

 

When I bought it I was cash flush, newly single and spoiling myself, but I'm ultimately more of a DIY guy. If you can stomach tinkering and troubleshooting then the free alternatives should be more than adequate and honestly for the value (ie. free) its unbeatable even if its slightly less effective which I honestly don't think it is anymore, where it may have been in the earlier days.

Wow Thank you very much, when I get back from holiday I will try the software out. Thanks again

I'd also be interested in experiences. TrackIR works well for me until summer evenings, when the sun shines through the window, and I either have to switch it off - or lower the blinds, which is a shame on a sunny summer evening.

I have never been able to afford TrackIR, so I used Cachya (which I bet none of you will have heard of!) for many years and it was excellent but won't install into my new Windows 8.1 pc. I have just tried Facetracknoir and although it worked (just about) it seemed to be very jerky and either unresponsive or far too sensitive. It would probably need a lot of tweaking. But it's free if you've got a webcam.

 

Freetrack looks good and there's lots of support in their forums and Youtube tutorials. I'm in the process of trying to constuct a 3 point LED cap so I'll let you know how I get on.

 

Dave

Thanks Guys I will have a look at the other one that the frog suggested. Thank you 

Just finished making a 3 LED cap for Freetrack and it works perfectly, very cheap to make, only a few $$$/£££. I think it works just as well as Trackir. All the instructions and forum help is on their website (http://www.free-track.net/english/)

 

Dave

The PS3 Eye with a piece of floppy disk as a filter has worked well for me.

There's lots of discussion about grinding the ends of the IR LEDs flat for better detection. The far easier solution is to stick a bit of painting masking tape over & around the LED, which diffuses the light just right. This was discovered by accident whilst using tape to hold them in place while glue dried.

FreeTrack is now quite old and hasn't been updated for a number of years. FaceTrackNoIR is being actively developed and supports, amongst other things, the old Free-Track protocol and TrackIR compatible games. I originally tried it with just the face tracking option and, whilst it worked, it wasn't very reliable or accurate. I now use FaceTrackNoIR with the PointTracker head tracker and a home-made 3-LED point source and it's excellent - smooth and accurate. Having seen a properly set up TrackIR 5, in my opinion it's no better than my FaceTrackNoIR setup. It's a little fiddly to set up initially but well-worth the effort. If you do struggle, you can find working setup files for FSX to download. Even if you can't make your own LED source (instructions in the hardware section at http://www.free-track.net/english/) you can buy a well-made version on eBay quite cheaply. Highly recommended!

Also have a look at OpenTrack, which as well as handling IR point models, also includes the Aruco tracker which recognises a patterned piece of cardboard which you can attach to a hat. Alternatively, tattoo the pattern on your forehead.

I use only Facetracknoir and just love it.  I usually only use face tracking and with proper lighting it works like a charm except it has its moment once in a while.  

 

 You want my settings let me know.  I also have the LED 3 point clip made but don't use it much.