Quick TrackIR tutorial and vid

[Guest MJ]

Looking at the forums here recently is seems many people got a nice surprise in their Christmas stocking! I thought it might be helpful to post a few tips for the TrackIR having used this thing for a while. I have the TrackIR 3 but I think the 4 is more or less the same but maybe a bit better.First of all you need to make sure that you know how to use the tracking gauge and the head motion gauge. You can bring them up in the Track IR software menu under 'view'One thing that can really screw you up is if the sensors on the hat aren't centred in the screen.If this is the case, make sure you find your flying postion ie: sat at the computer with joystick/yoke in place and your head in a confortable position and then move the Track IR and hat position until you get the sensors in the middle like this -Once that's done you can have a play with the controls and set various sensitivities. Using the virtual heads helps you understand how your in game head will move in relation to your real head. I've messed around with my profile quite a bit until I've now got it just how I like it.You can download my FS9 profile here:http://www.mikejgolfdesign.com/mjsettings.zipJust drop it into your program files/naturalpoint/profiles directory and you will be able to load it into the Track IR. It might not suit you perfectly but it's a good start.Once you have everything set up as you like it, load up FS and practice looking around when your plane is on the ground. Lean forward, to the side , and raise yourself up to look over the panel. If you don't like your virtual eyepoint position in the cockpit, you can alter it by pressing:ctrl backspace - move forwardctrl enter - move backshift backspace - move downshift enter - move upAt any time you can reset the track IR view by pressing F12. It sometimes happens that you shift position in your seat and a quick press of the F12 gets things back where they should be.I also have my middle mouse button set to toggle the Track IR on and off, This helps when you are leaning forward to tune in radios or clicking small switches. I don't use the precision mode at all which is F8 by default I think. Here's a small vid of the track IR in the Realair 260. This is probably the number 1 virtual cockpit out there.http://www.mikejgolfdesign.com/tir260.wmvHave fun!

[Guest squale]

I have the TrackIR 4 Pro, and when I start the flight on the ground and hit the re-center key, my view seems too far forward, like I can't really see the guages because my view is already looking almost over the panel of the 172. The only way I can seem to fix this is to lean forward and down a bit, then hit the recenter key, then sit back in my normal seating position and then my view will be more zoomed out and lower, so I can see the panel a bit better. Is there a way to be sitting in your normal seating posistion, hit the recenter key, and have your view at the right height and zoom distance from the panel? I didn't find a way to change this in the TrackIR software.Thanks

[Guest bobsk8]

>I have the TrackIR 4 Pro, and when I start the flight on the>ground and hit the re-center key, my view seems too far>forward, like I can't really see the guages because my view is>already looking almost over the panel of the 172. The only>way I can seem to fix this is to lean forward and down a bit,>then hit the recenter key, then sit back in my normal seating>position and then my view will be more zoomed out and lower,>so I can see the panel a bit better. Is there a way to be>sitting in your normal seating posistion, hit the recenter>key, and have your view at the right height and zoom distance>from the panel? I didn't find a way to change this in the>TrackIR software.>>Thanks>Once you get it centered , just use the normal FS9 zoom function keys ( + and - ) to set your zoom , I usually use .75. There is a ton of information on their support forums..http://forums.naturalpoint.com/cgi-bin/ult....cgi?category=1

[Guest jgreth123]

I used to use zoom .75 and .50 for some planes.Now I use only 1.0... I guess it's just something you get used to, but I have a lot of clarity reading the gauges now. Try 1.0 for a week. The only adjustment I usually make is making it a tad higher or a tad lower, as the default spot isn't always 100% correct. Unfortunately the 'start position' for the VC is hardcoded into the model and unless the person that created the model will change it, you're stuck with it.I am actually beta testing a scenery package at the moment and did some FPS checks and flew the default C172 (hate the airfile though, ugh :( thanks RealAir) to get some base FPS checks. The starting position was about 1-2 clicks low, so I raised it just a tad bit. The forward/back position was about right though, so I'm thinking you're just not used to 1.0 zoom level.I recommend trying 1.0 for at least a full week ( you'll get over your intial discomfort and will thank me ). Once you get used to it, you'll be able to read your gauges so much better. Fly the RealAir Simulations SF.260 with .75 and you won't be able to read the gauges unless you zoom in. There's quite a few good planes out there that will be much harder to read, but it's all personal preference.As far as more tips, I made a tips page quite a while back on the NaturalPoint forum. Here's a link to it:http://forums.naturalpoint.com/cgi-bin/ult...c&f=32&t=000239I love my TrackIR ;) I only have the TrackIR 3 Pro + Vector, but it's still awesome.

[Guest MJ]

>I have the TrackIR 4 Pro, and when I start the flight on the>ground and hit the re-center key, my view seems too far>forward, like I can't really see the guages because my view is>already looking almost over the panel of the 172. The only>way I can seem to fix this is to lean forward and down a bit,>then hit the recenter key, then sit back in my normal seating>position and then my view will be more zoomed out and lower,>so I can see the panel a bit better. Is there a way to be>sitting in your normal seating posistion, hit the recenter>key, and have your view at the right height and zoom distance>from the panel? I didn't find a way to change this in the>TrackIR software.>>Thanks>Check out this part of my post -"Once you have everything set up as you like it, load up FS and practice looking around when your plane is on the ground. Lean forward, to the side , and raise yourself up to look over the panel. If you don't like your virtual eyepoint position in the cockpit, you can alter it by pressing:ctrl backspace - move forwardctrl enter - move backshift backspace - move downshift enter - move up"

[Cruachan 705]

Yup, I was one of those who "got a nice surprise in their Christmas stocking!". Only trouble was that I knew about it weeks ahead, but wasn't allowed to play with my toy before the big day :(Thanks very much MJ for your helpful post - it's just what I needed. Using TrackIR 4 is pretty straightforward, but fine tuning the profiles does take a bit of patience. I tried your profile for FS9 and it seems just fine to me. The only slight issue is having to turn your head just that little bit further to see behind the right wing but that was only because I'm in the right seat of RealAir's SF.260. Appears to be okay in the left seat of other a/c.Centering the TrackIR view is quite important and the ability to do it easily and at will is paramount. I have assigned Ctrl+F11 to the task - button 2 on my Yoke. This avoids a conflict with the sim. For some reason FSUIPC won't allow Ctrl+F12, not sure why this is.I have also assigned Ctrl+F8 to Precision and, as you have suggested, the middle mouse button to Pause. F9 is used to toggle FSNavigator and to change the assignment now after all these years is likely to upset me..lolCheers,Mike

[Guest bobsk8]

>I used to use zoom .75 and .50 for some planes.>>Now I use only 1.0... I guess it's just something you get used>to, but I have a lot of clarity reading the gauges now. Try>1.0 for a week. The only adjustment I usually make is making>it a tad higher or a tad lower, as the default spot isn't>always 100% correct. Unfortunately the 'start position' for>the VC is hardcoded into the model and unless the person that>created the model will change it, you're stuck with it.>>I am actually beta testing a scenery package at the moment and>did some FPS checks and flew the default C172 (hate the>airfile though, ugh :( thanks RealAir) to get some base FPS>checks. The starting position was about 1-2 clicks low, so I>raised it just a tad bit. The forward/back position was about>right though, so I'm thinking you're just not used to 1.0 zoom>level.>>I recommend trying 1.0 for at least a full week ( you'll get>over your intial discomfort and will thank me ). Once you get>used to it, you'll be able to read your gauges so much better.> Fly the RealAir Simulations SF.260 with .75 and you won't be>able to read the gauges unless you zoom in. There's quite a>few good planes out there that will be much harder to read,>but it's all personal preference.>>>As far as more tips, I made a tips page quite a while back on>the NaturalPoint forum. Here's a link to it:>http://forums.naturalpoint.com/cgi-bin/ult...c&f=32&t=000239>>I love my TrackIR ;) I only have the TrackIR 3 Pro + Vector,>but it's still awesome.If you have Vector, you can always lean a tad foward and enlarge the gauge.

[Guest jgreth123]

Yes you can, but why zoom out and distort the view outside? Or inside for that matter. Even at only 25% zoom in, it's still distorting the lens view.It's all about personal preference I know. I used to use .75 for the longest time. I stopped flying for 9 months due to other committments. I'm back now and decided to switch to 100%. It's way better in the long run once you adjust... that's just the hard part ;)Everyone went 75% to compensate for the lack of movement and such...Now that you have the movement, try moving back to it. After a bit, you'll love it :) Either way though, TrackIR just rocks ;)

[Guest squale]

well first of all I am flying the Flight1 C172R so I don't know if the default VC eye position is configurable or not. All I know is that the default VC position I can only see the top half of the top row of guages and I can see pretty well over the dash, to me this seems a bit too high, but I can't remember the real thing it's been a year since I flew a 172. So what I have been doing is purposely sitting HIGH up in my seat, then hit the TrackIR recenter button, so then when I sit in my normal slouch position, my viewpoint is lower and I can see more of the guages. I also do the same thing for my front/back (zoom) eyepoint. I find the default zoom in VC is too far forward (to close to the guages), so I purposely lean forward BEFORE recentering, so then when I lean back in my normal seating position I am zoomed out a bit...what I don't understand is, by using the +/- zoom keys for the FS9 VC eyepoint, isn't that negating the point of having the TrackIR 4? I mean one of the reasons for the TrackIR 4 is so you can lean forward and backward to zoom in and out, so if you are doing it with the keyboard isn't that defeating the purpose?(now I just need to learn to sit more upright in my seat, because I slouch so much that moving down is pretty much impossble since I am already slouched all the way down, lol)

[Howiefly13 30]

You guys are really resurrecting my interest in this product. I bought the Track IR3 with the Vector Expansion when it was first introduced last year. I fought with it for a month and could not get it to the point where it was smooth like your video shows. I agree that their support was great but I still could not succeed and had to reluctantly return it.After seeing what you are able to do, I am really considering purchasing the IR4 and giving it another try. I presume you are completely satisfied and recomment it for FS4?Did anyone else have similar problems with the IR3 and are now happy with the IR4?Thanks a lot,Howard

[Guest squale]

wow man you are nuts, this thing rocks! I had bought the CH yoke and pedals last year, HATED them, sold them on ebay, now have the trackIR 4 and I don't think I could fly without this thing... in my opinion the most worthwhile add-on there is

[OwenHewitt 0]

Agreed - it's the one essential hardware add-on I believe every simmer should own!Best,Owen