Views in X-plane

 

Firstly, If you prefer to fly in a "Virtual Cockpit" I  RECOMMEND CHANGING YOUR DEFAULT COCKPIT VIEW to forward view with 3D cockpit

 

...Why?

 

Firstly, you view will default to the 3D cockpit

Secondly, you'll be able to set up one BUTTON / KEY to reset you view to a Centered, Forward Facing and Non-Magnified state without having to leave the 3D cockpit.

 

... Huh?

 

Well it comes down to the functionality of two particular commands

 

view: fwd with panel

This command changes your view to your DEFAULT COCKPIT VIEW. In doing so, the following will be reset:-

- Orientation, the view will be facing forward

- Magnification - view will be in an un-Zoomed state

- Location  - the "Eye point" will be "reset" to Center

 

view: 3-D cockpit cmd-look

Using this command changes your view to the 3-D Cockpit or "Virtual Cockpit"

In doing so, the following will be reset:-

- Orientation

- Magnification 

- IT DOES NOT RESET "EYE POINT" LOCATION

 

So, by setting our Default cockpit to forward view with 3D cockpit we can set up one button to reset our views Orientation, Magnification and Location. 

If you choose not to change your default view, You can still use the view: fwd with panel command but it will change the view to a Forward facing, Non-Magnified and Centered 2D COCKPIT and from there you will need a further button or key press to take you back into the 3-D cockpit upon which you will find your view fully reset as well.

 

NOTE:- I understand a number of Third Party Developers no longer offer a 2D cockpit with their products.

 

To Change your DEFAULT VIEW.

 

Move the mouse cursor to the top of your screen, the MENU BAR will appear

Select SETTINGS / RENDERING OPTIONS

In the SPECIAL VIEWING OPTIONS box, there are 4 Options:-

 

-forward view scenery only ( No Panel )

-forward view with HUD

-forward view with panel ( 2D Cockpit )

 -forward view with 3D cockpit ( 3D or "Virtual" Cockpit )

 

Select -forward view with 3D cockpit.

 

There is no need to "Save" your changes, just close the menu by Left Clicking the "X" in the Top Right corner.

Your Default View is now the 3D Cockpit or "Virtual Cockpit" - Xplane will "remember" this.

 

To ASSIGN a BUTTON on a controller to select the DEFAULT view: 

- Move you mouse cursor to the top of your screen, the MENU BAR will appear

-Select SETTINGS / JOYSTICK & EQUIPMENT

-Select the BUTTONS: BASIC Tab

In the Fourth Column you will see the Command:-

 

view: fwd with panel

 

FIRSTLY, Press the BUTTON ON YOUR CONTROLLER that you wish to assign the Command to.

SECONDLY, Left Click the checkbox next to the Command. 

There is no need to "Save" any changes, just close the menu by Left Clicking  the "X" in the upper right corner.

 

To ASSIGN a KEY to the Command

Select SETTINGS / JOYSTICK & EQUIPMENT

Select the KEYS Tab

In the Left Box you will see a list of KEYS in GREY BOXES with their ASSIGNED COMMANDS beside them. The list can be scrolled up and down using the slider bar on the right hand side. Use the following Command:

 

view / forward_with_panel

 

To Change a KEY ASSIGNMENT, Select the associated GREY BOX by Left Clicking it.

The GREY BOX will change to GREEN

Press the KEY ( eg. W ) or COMBINATION ( eg. SHIFT W ) to be assigned to this Command.

The GREEN BOX will change to show your Assignment

Left Click the GREEN BOX to change it back to GREY

Close the Menu.

 

NOTE:- As you probably noticed, X-plane, most of the time, uses different names for commands that do the same thing depending on whether they are assigned to a BUTTON or a KEY eg:

 

BUTTON -  view: fwd with panel

KEY -  view / forward_with_panel

 

PANNING YOUR VIEW

 

Mouse View

Generally speaking,  I find this much better for looking around the cockpit.

 

NOTE:- Mouse View will work in every view with the exception of a 2D Cockpit

 

Double Right Click to activate Mouse View

Single Right Click to deactivate Mouse View

Moving the MOUSE will pan the view Left, Right, Up and Down etc..

The Scroll Wheel will zoom your view. 

Aircraft Controls can be manipulated whilst in Mouse View but can be rather awkward. For best results I recommend centering the Control to be manipulated in the screen. I move into and out of Mouse View constantly.

 

To ASSIGN  BUTTONS  to Pan the view.

Select SETTINGS / JOYSTICK and EQUIPMENT  

Select the BUTTONS: BASIC Tab

 In the far right column you will find the following Commands:-

 

General command: tilt up

General command: tilt down

General command: pan left

General command: pan right

 

Assign these Commands to your hat switch to pan your view in the direction described. Again, remember to push the button on your controller first and then select the Command.  If you find these Commands pan your view a little too slowly, there is an additional set of Commands directly below with the same names but with the addition of  "fast".

 

General command: tilt up fast

General command: tilt down fast

General command: pan left fast

General command: pan right fast

 

To "Reset" your View use the view: fwd with panel command

 

NOTE:- Resetting your view will also deactivate MOUSE VIEW, activate with a Double Right Click

 

To ASSIGN a KEY(S) to Pan the View

Select SETTINGS / JOYSTICK & EQUIPMENT / KEYS

In the Left Box you will see a list of KEYS in Grey Boxes with their assigned Commands beside them. The List can be scrolled up and down using the slider bar on the right hand side. Use the Following Commands:-

 

general / rot_up

general / rot_down

general / rot_left

general / rot_right

 

To Change a KEY ASSIGNMENT, Select the associated GREY BOX by Left Clicking it.

The GREY BOX will change to GREEN

Press the KEY ( eg. W ) or COMBINATION ( eg. SHIFT W ) to be assigned to this Command.

The GREEN BOX will change to show your Assignment

Left Click the GREEN BOX to change it back to GREY

Close the Menu.

 

MOVING YOUR "EYEPOINT"

These Commands allow you to move your "Eyepoint" Left, Right, Up, Down, Forwards or Backwards

To ASSIGN  BUTTONS to these Commands, 

Under SETTINGS / JOYSTICK and EQUIPMENT / BUTTONS BASIC

In the far right column at the top you will see the commands:-

 

General command: left

General command: right

General command: up

General command: down

General command: forwards

General command: backwards

 

These commands will move your " Eyepoint", in the direction described. As you will see, there are also the FAST variants of these commands.

To Reset the "Eye point" use the view: fwd with panel command

 

To ASSIGN KEYS to the Commands,

Select SETTINGS / JOYSTICK & EQUIPMENT / KEYS

In the LEFT BOX you will see a list of KEYS in GREY BOXES with their ASSIGNED COMMANDS  beside them. The list can be scrolled up and down using the slider bar on the right hand side. Use the following COMMANDS:-

 

general / left

general / right

general / up

general / down

general / forward

general / backward

 

To Change a KEY ASSIGNMENT, Select the associated GREY BOX by Left Clicking it.

The GREY BOX will change to GREEN

Press the KEY ( eg. W ) or COMBINATION ( eg. SHIFT W ) to be assigned to this Command.

The GREEN BOX will change to show your Assignment

Left Click the GREEN BOX to change it back to GREY

Close the Menu.

 

NOTE:- I use the "fast"  variants of these commands to "walk" around aircraft doing "preflight inspections"  I assigned the  Arrow keys to Left and Right, Forwards and Backwards, with W and S being Up and Down respectively, but, of course,  you can use whatever you desire. Alternatively, use Mouse View to change direction and height and the Command: general / forward. to move forwards. To Reset the view to the DEFAULT COCKPIT , use view: fwd with panel

 

ZOOMING YOUR VIEW

These commands magnify or ZOOM your view both inside and outside of the cockpit.

The Scroll Wheel will ZOOM your view regardless of whether Mouse View is activated or not.

 

To ASSIGN a BUTTON 

under SETTINGS / JOYSTICK and EQUIPMENT / BUTTONS BASIC

In the Far Right Column are the commands:-

 

General command: zoom in

General command: zoom out

 

- You know the rest, right?

 

To ASSIGN a KEY

 

general / zoom_in

general / zoom_out

 

Adding a NEW KEY and  COMMAND

If you cannot find the KEY or the COMMAND listed that you wish to use, It is straightforward to add either. To explain, I will use the FLASHLIGHT Command as an example.

 

NOTE:- the Flashlight only works when HDR Rendering is enabled. HDR rendering can greatly affect frame rate.

 

To enable HDR rendering:-

MENU / SETTINGS / RENDERING OPTIONS

In the SPECIAL EFFECTS box Check the box HDR rendering

 

To ASSIGN a KEY for the useful Flashlight:- 

Select SETTINGS / JOYSTICK & EQUIPMENT / KEYS

Click Add New Key Assignment located in the BOTTOM CENTER BOX

In the LEFT BOX , at the bottom you will see a new GREY BOX, labeled <NONE>. beside it is the Command:- none / none.

Left Click the GREY BOX, The box will change to GREEN.

A list of Command Menus will appear in the TOP CENTER BOX .

In the TOP CENTER BOX,  Select:-  view/

A list of  all the Commands under  view/  will appear in the RIGHT BOX

Select:- Toggle the white flashlight  

( or Toggle the red flashlight if you would prefer a red flashlight)

In the LEFT BOX the GREEN BOX  labeled <NONE>  has been assigned the Command:-

 

 view / flashlight_wht

 

Press a KEY ( eg. F ) or a COMBINATION (eg. SHIFT F ) to assign it.

The GREEN BOX will change from <NONE> to whichever key you assigned to it. eg. F

Left Click the GREEN BOX and it will change to GREY. 

Close the Menu.

 

NOTE:- Another handy command is:

 

 ice/  anti_ice_toggle  - This command will eliminate all Icing on the aircraft.

 

Exterior Views

 

view: Circle

 

MENU\SETTINGS\BUTTONS: BASIC

 

This command shifts your eyepoint to a external view with your aircraft as the focal point. Using the KEY commands General / Left, General /Right etc will rotate your view around the aircraft. General / Forwards and General / Backwards will move your "EYEPOINT" towards or away from your aircraft. the Mouse Wheel will Magnify or "ZOOM" your view

 

view: free camera

 

MENU \ SETTINGS \ BUTTONS: ADV

 

In the TOP CENTER BOX select view:\ 

 

In the RIGHT BOX select View: free camera

 

Using the following KEY commands, you can shift your Eye point to ANYWHERE in the world

 

General / up

General / down

 General / left

General / right

General / forwards

General / backwards

 

You can also use Mouse View ( double RIGHT CLICK ) to look Left, Right, Up, Down and the wheel to Zoom.

Generally, I use Mouse View to change view direction and altitude and the command General / forward to move around.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

Fantastic information James, I'm pinning this topic for future reference.

Thanks very much Tony, I appreciate the gesture, hopefully people find it helpful.

James,

 

As an avid FSX/P3D user I would like to master X-plane 10.40 to the same level, one of the most difficult aspects of the transition is the X-plane user interface and trying to get the same views as that of Fsx/P3D, however, your post makes it just that much easier to understand. Many thanks.

Finally. Some instructions to set up my yoke without having to decipher engineer-speak.  Thanks!

How do you rise the seat like in FSX? and move it back and forward.

 

thanks

this is by far the best article I have read on here to date. no engineer speak  ,it all works,   thank you for your excellent post if you wright more I would be pleased to read it .

.tnx it help a lot 

 

Further to what justanother pilot comments, those that migrated from FSX would look for some of the View features that the got use in FSX, I'am wondering if there is a way to generate something like the FSX that assign few views to the same button (Like the Saitek Yoke right red button) it's like creating a category or Pool of views ??

 

Cheers

 

Yair     

 

oh, and one more thing, is there anything like Cabin/ Dom lights Key /Button  on XP11 ?????  

can you yet assign all your controls in x11 yet, or will the  settings in x10 work the same in x11

this is by far the best article I have read on here to date. no engineer speak  ,it all works,   thank you for your excellent post if you wright more I would be pleased to read it .

+++1