Ask yourself instead, 'How realistic is a hatswitch'

Best answer! :wink:

Best answer! :wink:

How realistic is turning your head to look at something and keeping your eyes on the same thing. Sorry to be a grump about track ir but I took the advice of people on here and bought it it was the biggest waste of nearly £150  that I have ever spent. 

 

 

Sorry to be a grump about track ir but I took the advice of people on here and bought it it was the biggest waste of nearly £150  that I have ever spent. 

 

Haha! you've got a point about the 'realism' thing but, like many people in this thread, I can't actually fly without TrackIR. If you get someone who only flies the big tin then I wouldn't really recommend it. I *would* recommend EZDOK though, but you can do without TrackIR.

 

If you do a lot of Combat flying (DCS etc.) or Aerobatics then TrackIR is essential. Even flying circuits in a piston will hugely benefit from you having TrackIR. It takes a bit of setup and getting used to at first but after a while it's so natural. I sometimes find myself instinctively turning my head while watching a VC view in a YouTube video...It's not embarrassing at all....

How realistic is turning your head to look at something and keeping your eyes on the same thing...

 

After a very short while you don't even realise your eyes are stationary. It really is a non-issue.

Actually, when you move your head with TIR, your eyes also must move, otherwise you would be looking somewhere other than where you intended to look.

 

And depending upon your monitor screen size and how close you are to it you can look at different areas of the screen while your head remains stationary in the 'turned' position.

 

As Ron states, using TIR becomes second nature  in a short time and feels very 'natural'.

 

I would never go back to the default hatswitch or keyboard view system !

 

 Paul

After a very short while you don't even realise your eyes are stationary. It really is a non-issue.

I have tried it , it is a big issue to me

Alan you are not the first nor that last that have felt TIR is more bother than it's worth.  It takes time to get used to, and not having the axes gain curves turned for your preferences can exacerbate the situation.  If you find you must twist your head around too much, increase the slope of the gain curves to minimize your head and eye movement (this is what I've done).

 

Consider this: If you once went from a twist joystick to flight pedals and swore 'what a frickin' waste pedals are' but now those pedals are second nature, you have a taste of what can happen with a TIR.  Still, there are those where TIR just never clicks, but it's definitely worth giving it a break in period since it's right there in front of you.  BTW, I agree TIR is way over-priced but now that I've gotten 7.5 years and counting out of my TIR4, it was well worth the investment.

 

Edit: for those using progressive lens eyeglasses, using a TIR is impossible. I do have this situation; to get around it I use constant focus lens eyeglasses for when I'm on my home computer.

I have owned TIR4 for years and have minimal time using it. 

 

My problem is that I am so conscious of moving my head that my neck gets really tired. When I have to look at charts or something off the screen it's really fatiguing. 

 

Any pointers? Any recommended settings other than the ones that come with the software? 

 

I see videos using it and wish that I was using it! The depth added to panels is fantastic, as is the ability to look under the wing of a Cessna! 

 

Looks like I'll be dragging it out again when I get home tonight! Thanks a lot!

Assign key on js/yoke to pause tir. Then you can look at charts or rest neck or whatever.

I have owned TIR4 for years and have minimal time using it. 

 

My problem is that I am so conscious of moving my head that my neck gets really tired. When I have to look at charts or something off the screen it's really fatiguing. 

 

Any pointers? Any recommended settings other than the ones that come with the software? 

 

I see videos using it and wish that I was using it! The depth added to panels is fantastic, as is the ability to look under the wing of a Cessna! 

 

Looks like I'll be dragging it out again when I get home tonight! Thanks a lot!

 

Eddie,

 

having a button programmed to "Pause" TIR and another to "Center" the view really helps when you want to look at something like a map, GPS screen, chart. Just look at the area you want to stay focused on and hit the Pause button to lock TIR at that point. When done, just hit the Pause button again to resume 'normal' operation.

 

As for the Center command, if I want to extend my view in any direction I simply look in the OPPOSITE direction and hit the Center button. I can then look further in the other direction. When done, look forward and hit Center again. These operations become 2nd nature in no time.

 

When trying to see hard to reach areas, such as the de-ice controls in my A2A B-17G, which are located down on the left side of the pilots seat, I look to the left and lean forward to move my vitual head next to the pilots left window. I then hit Pause and use the hat to look down on the floor to the de-ice switches there. After setting them, I hit Pause again, look forward and hit Center.

 

The only time I have problems with my neck is when I am flying formation in the B-17G and the aircraft I am forming on is slightly above or below my altitude, which is normal for that sort of operation.

Again, here the Center button can be used. Slouch down or sit up higher and then Center to move your eyepoint in the OPPOSITE direction. This lets me look 'under'  or 'over' the window frame.

 

I also map the left seat (F9), right seat, and two other camera views to the #2 hat switch on my X-45 stick. With a flick of my thumb I can move between the seats or other views. This operation was essential when flying the A2A B-377...going from left seat to the FE station or Navigators station or the right seat.

 

With TIR I could often check the FE station gauges simply by looking over my virtual right shoulder just to see if I needed to go to the FE view. ( I use the HotKeySelect= ) statement added to the CameraDefinition.00x entries in the aircraft.cfg file to assign those to the hat)

 

Without TIR one has to do a lot of keystoke or hat work to get around the VC but a combination of TIR, custom views assigned via the "View Camera x" in the FSX Controls menu and associated  HotKeySelect = statements in the aircraft.cfg file make for a much smoother operation.

 

  Paul

 

I see KDFW got a post in as I was typing mine up 

Great tips Paul.

How realistic is turning your head to look at something and keeping your eyes on the same thing. Sorry to be a grump about track ir but I took the advice of people on here and bought it it was the biggest waste of nearly £150  that I have ever spent. 

How realistic is NOT turning your head and NOT moving your eyes, but having the view move (with hat switch)?

.Unless you have an home built cockpit which comes fairly close to reality the view in FSX is not realistic anyway. Perhaps I should have said it is not natural to move your head and leave your eyes in the same place. Not moving your eyes AND head is  something everyone does when watching TV or using a computer.

So your solution is to slowly pan your head around with a hat switch because the head movements required for a track ir are not natural head movements?

.Unless you have an home built cockpit which comes fairly close to reality the view in FSX is not realistic anyway. Perhaps I should have said it is not natural to move your head and leave your eyes in the same place. Not moving your eyes AND head is  something everyone does when watching TV or using a computer.

 

Alan, you tried it. It wasn't for you so just move on.

All this arguing over what's 'realistic' or not is just going to cause problems and in the end we all have our own opinions of how much we're willing to compromise when it comes to 'realism'