Chaseplane worth it?

[PaulFWatts 100]

I also bought CP when it was first released (in Alpha) and never really got into it for some reason.

Recently I've been contemplating buying a TrackIR or TrackHat (as it's less flimsy) but thought I would take the time to setup CP properly and see if this would suffice.

I've used the same named views and keys/buttons for all my internal views for each plane so it has become easy to remember which key is assigned to which view. Have great views over the wings (90% and front 45%) a nose cam view, IFR view, switches, lights, overhead, pedestal, fuel selector, GPS/Radio, etc etc. Makes it easy to find things in the different aircraft as well as have nice zoomed views on the GPS, autopilot/MCP, etc. Has been a bit of work to setup but reaping the benefits now. I believe this is far better than having a TrackIR (as it is flimsy and expensive imho) and I know I would find it a nuisance over time.

I also like the effects that CP brings to the views, shaking etc, that can be very easy controlled to achieve the desired effect (although I have just left it at the defaults and happy with it).

The interface is excellent and makes it super simple to adjust a view or create a new view. I have used many of them based on the community views which I have imported and adjusted to my tastes.

I believe it is money well spent and a very happy camper.

p.s. love that all the views are automatically backed up in the cloud as would be a lot of work to have to recreate them again. OldProp appear to know what they are doing and make everything easy to install and keep updated. I have all of their products and super simple to maintain via their slick configurator (my pet peeve is with the many other developers who make me do all the work to find updates and then have to uninstall and reinstall to do the update.)

An A+ rating from me.

Edited November 5, 2018 by PaulFWatts

[SimonC 116]

Gotta tell you, I just had an aha-moment...

You know that Copy/Paste feature of camera properties? And when you get the window with all those sliders... at first I was deactivating one after another. But then I thought, they thought of so many other things, maybe there is a hidden feature... and behold... just click on the text above the section. That's what I mean by intuitive.

[Keven Menard 658]

7 hours ago, SimonC said:

just click on the text above the section. That's what I mean by intuitive.

You're the first one to figure it out 😉 It pays to venture out and try things sometime!

Edited November 6, 2018 by Keven Menard

[cckeating 1]

Wouldn't fly without it. Highly recommended

[Adamski_NZ 942]

On 11/3/2018 at 5:30 AM, Keven Menard said:

Thanks for the recommendations everyone. It feels incredible to have created something that people love and use everyday. 

Dont forget: if you have issues with something, don’t hesitate to post on the forums or ask for support on our website.

Another recommendation from me: don't waste time doing research ... JUST GET IT. Simple as that.

Keven - you get what you deserve!!! I've been around sims since the BBC Micro. Chaseplane should get a P3D Utility Oscar. It's wonderfully functional and the GUI is one of the best I've seen anywhere. Pat yourself on the back!

Adam.

[duckbilled 310]

I used EZCA in FSX for years (never updated past 1.5 or so). I liked the effects, but I really couldn't figure out what each dial did. Either way, `once I set it up I was happy. Tweaking cameras for each new aircraft was pretty easy. The hat switch on my Saitek yoke worked perfectly. Panning was very smooth. For views, I have a Logitech G13. I assigned keyboard shortcuts to each of the keys in a logical order on the keyboard (Captain view is left most key at top, first officer is right most at top...)

Anyway, I need a solution for P3DV4. Up until now I have been using the default camera system. It actually works ok - I only need cockpit, spot and wingviews. What I miss are the effects.

Considering that I MUST maintain the use of my hat switch and I'd like to assign views to keyboard shortcuts (Shift+r, Shift+u...), would Chaseplane be a good choice?

 

[mtrainer 136]

If you need more buttons thrustmaster sells a rectangular faux screen that provides 5 buttons across the top, 5 down, 5 across the bottom and 5 on the left side.  20 views right there.  And, the kit comes with two of these so if you plug them both in you'll have 40 view buttons.  Was a no brainer setting it up and getting it to work.

I liked using it but The Thrustmaster Warthog joystick has plenty of extra buttons on it and when you "overload" a button in Chaseplane you can configure one button to cycle through as many different views as you like, so I'm not really using the mini-screens anymore.

Mark

 

[duckbilled 310]

22 minutes ago, mtrainer said:

If you need more buttons thrustmaster sells a rectangular faux screen that provides 5 buttons across the top, 5 down, 5 across the bottom and 5 on the left side.  20 views right there.  And, the kit comes with two of these so if you plug them both in you'll have 40 view buttons.  Was a no brainer setting it up and getting it to work.

I liked using it but The Thrustmaster Warthog joystick has plenty of extra buttons on it and when you "overload" a button in Chaseplane you can configure one button to cycle through as many different views as you like, so I'm not really using the mini-screens anymore.

Mark

 

the G13 gives you 22 buttons. Just wondering if Chaseplane allows you to map views to key commands, and whether it maintains smooth (and fast) movement with the hat switch.

 

[Adamski_NZ 942]

7 hours ago, duckbilled said:

Anyway, I need a solution for P3DV4. Up until now I have been using the default camera system. It actually works ok - I only need cockpit, spot and wingviews. What I miss are the effects.

As far as I remember, most of the effects in EZCA were "fake" - in that they were all randomly generated by a series of "oscillators". Maybe this changed in later versions <?>.

Chaseplane has a full range of effects, but they're correctly linked to aircraft or environment dynamics. It's actually a lot simpler to set up, IMHO, as all you need to do is adjust the magnitude of the effect.

As regards mapping of keys in Chaseplane, I find the problem isn't so much in Chaseplane itself but in the general shortage of available mappings in P3D - and that my P3D often loses all its mappings and I either have to reload them or re-do them from scratch. IMHO, there's something still a little shonky about P3D's controls setup.

Adam.