FSX-SE Does this hard-coding of VC pan position still work?

[JonP01 104]

Hi,

I decided to look more deeply into setting the default pan position in the FSX virtual cockpit. Up to this point, I have just set the desired pan (which is 12 degrees down, so initialPbh = 12,0,0) in the main cameras.cfg file. Now of course that sets the desired panning for every aircraft in the entire sim - it isn't like the really old days when in a 2D cockpit you could change the angle you looked down by hard coding it in the panel.cfg file. That did not work for FSX.

So i was looking up Avsim relating to finding a way to set a slightly different default pan position for each aircraft VC - and not just a "fit all" solution. 

I came across this archived thread which hit the subject matter bang on the head - and it seems that it worked for most people. But this thread dates from 2013. We have had the Steam version since then and a number of things under the bonnet (hood for you US people :) ) have changed.

Now I cannot seem to get this solution from 2013 to work anymore - no matter what I try, the pan keep defaulting to precisely what I have in the one cameras.cfg file. Nothing I try changes that - so I now have a very clunky solution of making a bat file that asks me what aircraft I want to fly, I select it and it copies "it's" cameras.cfg file to the actual cameras.cfg file. 

Yes, it works perfectly. But it seems like I am using a sledge hammer to crush a Twistie....

Is it the case this no longer works in Steam edition (very possible) or am I missing something. I followed the instructions to the letter and when that did not work, tried a few themes and variations. But the sim seems obsessed with the camera file and the only things that can be changed for each aircraft is the initial seating position. Very nice but not what I want - I also want to set where my eyes are looking, which obviously is not the same thing!

 

 

 

 

[jcl 0]

Above the first gauge description Window 00 insert the following view lines.

[VIEWS]
VIEW_FORWARD_ZOOM=0.600
VIEW_FORWARD_DIR=2.300, 0.000, 0.000
 

The first value in VIEW_FORWARD_DIR=2.300 is the one you want to change to have the view raise or lower in each aircraft. I usually use =7.00. adjust to your liking.

 

[JonP01 104]

Thanks but as I mentioned in my original post, changing those parameters does not work in FSX the same way it used to work in earlier versions. For earlier versions that was what I already did - and it worked perfectly. With FSX, however, changing that parameter in the panel.cfg file merely gives you that viewing position at the outset of loading the aircraft. As soon as you pan away or select other external views, for example, then press the allocated hotkey back to the original default VC viewpoint, it will completely ignore that VIEW_FORWARD_DIR parameter from that point onwards.

That isn't what I want - I need that default view that I set to be persistent and to always be "re-called" whenever I press the shortcut key (can't recall the exact name in the FSX GUI for it now but it is something like return view to 3D cockpit or similar).

As I say, my bat file (where it asks me what aircraft I want to fly before firing up FSX) works perfectly and I have a camera.cfg file for all the aircraft I fly. But it also means I have to exit FSX and re-select the aircraft I want to fly in order for FSX to "read" the different camera.cfg file for each aircraft - it only seems to take the information from that file at the point FSX is started.

That is exactly what that thread from 2013 was about - making that happen by hard-coding what was in the camera.cfg file into the individual aircraft.cfg files. But it no longer works. So i was just wanting to see if there was some reason I was missing as to why the solution in that thread from 2013 no longer works. But as I say, I have a solution of sorts that is 100% reliable, so in the absence of someone knowing what might have changed in FSX since 2013, I will stick to that.

[Lorby_SI 2,038]

3 hours ago, JonP01 said:

That is exactly what that thread from 2013 was about - making that happen by hard-coding what was in the camera.cfg file into the individual aircraft.cfg files. But it no longer works. So i was just wanting to see if there was some reason I was missing as to why the solution in that thread from 2013 no longer works. But as I say, I have a solution of sorts that is 100% reliable, so in the absence of someone knowing what might have changed in FSX since 2013, I will stick to that.

Nothing has changed since 2013 - except when you count the latest FSX:SE beta version.

You can still add a camera definition to the aircraft.cfg, calling it "Pilot" or something and giving it a unique GUID. Bind a hotkey combo to it, and you have your individual eyepoint in every aircraft just a few keypresses away.

As far as overwriting the default Virtual Cockpit definition from the camera.cfg with a local definition in the aircraft.cfg - I'm not sure that this ever really worked, and that it doesn't have unwanted side effects.

Best regards

Edited February 25, 2020 by Lorby_SI

[JonP01 104]

Thanks Lorby. I suspect that is where I have made a mistake - I just assumed the camera I added would somehow "default" or "substitute" to the existing main VC view shortcut key. I did not think (or even try) to make it work as a completely different additional camera. So it sounds like as you describe, when I load the aircraft, it will initially load with that "default" view as per the main camera file, but then I can select "my" camera from that point forwards. Or of course save specific flights, though it hardly seems worth it since just one key press after loading and I am done.

Thank you!

[Lorby_SI 2,038]

15 minutes ago, JonP01 said:

So it sounds like as you describe, when I load the aircraft, it will initially load with that "default" view as per the main camera file, but then I can select "my" camera from that point forwards.

That is the idea, yes.

If you have to do this a lot - I made an app for that purpose where you can adjust the cameras visually, in the running sim. It is exclusively rooted in the simulators camera system, it doesn't bring external camera functionality like the usual/known camera addons. But it is payware, so I am not allowed to tell you what it is called 😉 

Edit: but the manual is a free download, if you are interested feel free to take a look. You will find it right at the top of the downloads page on the Lorby-SI website.

Best regards

Edited February 25, 2020 by Lorby_SI

[JonP01 104]

OK, I tried this last night. Yes, the GUI and hotkey thing does work - so you are right in that what I missed was allocating it to a particular camera number and allocating that to a keystroke (or in my case a button on the controller). So yes, it does work, but still not what I was wanting unfortunately. The reason being that when I set the shortcut key (say for camera 9 in this instance called "Pilot") it does take you back to the pilot position exactly as per the config file as you say, but critically, it doe snot take me back to both the original position and the original pan direction. And when I am stuck with a controller and very small monitor, I still like to be able to instantly return to that one known reference point (both the seating position and where my head is precisely pointed) for final approach and landing. I would not really care at all if I had TrackIR or a very large monitor and a very easy way to pan with great precision, but unfortunately I don't - I am still stuck using equipment from a decade ago and it just makes the experience that much more compromised.

Not to worry though - I am glad I now understand exactly how it works.

[Lorby_SI 2,038]

5 hours ago, JonP01 said:

it does not take me back to both the original position and the original pan direction.

Hi,

I'm sorry, but I don't understand that one. A camera definition is always the same, no matter how you call it up (right-click in the simulator window is another option). You should land exactly where you were when the camera was set up. This sounds like your definition is not 100% correct, either in XYZ/PBH or other parameters. The camera system of the sim looks simple, but in operation it is quite tricky. That is why I made a tool for it. Which has its own hotkey control btw, to avoid conflicts with the sim itself.

Best regards

Edited February 27, 2020 by Lorby_SI