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How to get external view without showing the aircraft

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Hi. Total newbie here.  I hope this post is in the right place.

Can anyone tell me how to have an external view where you don't see your plane at all?  I've seen numerous YouTube videos that show this view but I can't figure out how it's done.  When I switch the camera to the external view I can see outside my plane but the plane is still visible.  No matter what camera I use the plane is still there.  What am I missing?

 

Thanks in advance.

3 hours ago, newmanm1969 said:

Hi. Total newbie here.  I hope this post is in the right place.

Can anyone tell me how to have an external view where you don't see your plane at all?  I've seen numerous YouTube videos that show this view but I can't figure out how it's done.  When I switch the camera to the external view I can see outside my plane but the plane is still visible.  No matter what camera I use the plane is still there.  What am I missing?

 

Thanks in advance.

I don't think you can with the standard camera, but it should work with the drone camera, but it will probably be inconvenient to use in flight.

System: I ASRock X670E | AMD 7800X3D | 64Gb DDR5 6000 | RTX 4090 | 2TB NVMe | Seasonic Vertex 1000W I LG Ultra Gear 34 UW I

5 hours ago, newmanm1969 said:

Hi. Total newbie here.  I hope this post is in the right place.

Can anyone tell me how to have an external view where you don't see your plane at all?  I've seen numerous YouTube videos that show this view but I can't figure out how it's done.  When I switch the camera to the external view I can see outside my plane but the plane is still visible.  No matter what camera I use the plane is still there.  What am I missing?

 

Thanks in advance.

Could you just move the camera away from your aircraft to get the shot you want?

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SImply drone camera. Your aircraft can be parked at the gate, or you use active pause and you can still move around the drone camera.

There is a way of doing it, but it requires editing some lines in a cfg file. I don't know where or how to do it, but I remember seeing a video about it and it's fairly straightforward, but as I say, you have to go into some folders and find the relevent file to edit.  EDIT: I just asked Chat GPT and this is what it said: 

 

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To create an external view in Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS) without showing the virtual cockpit, you have a couple of options:

  1. Modify the Camera Configuration:

    • You can edit the CAMERAS.CFG file to position the cockpit camera outside the cockpit. This involves adjusting the InitialXyz values to move the camera outside the aircraft. For example, setting InitialXyz = -5.077562, 0.218672, -1.081527 moves the camera outside the cockpit (Microsoft Flight Simulator Forums) (Microsoft Flight Simulator Forums).
    • After making changes, save the file and restart MSFS.

Howard
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My FlightSim YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@skyhigh776

4 hours ago, Ixoye said:

What am I missing?

You're missing the DRONE camera which gives you complete control of the external view and is simple to use.

Noel

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Aircraft used in MSFS 2024:  Fenix A320,  Aerosoft CRJ, FBW, WT 787X, I-Fly 737 MAX 8, Citation Longitude.

 

How about just turning your camera away from the A/C, I use my hat switch.

  • Author

Thank you all for your assistance.  I truly appreciate it.

 

I will try out your suggestions when I get home from work.

@Rocky_53 has the correct answer if you want to go to all that trouble but then what do you get? Just a fixed camera view, nothing else. If that's all you want then that is the way to do it. But if use the drone (as another replier said) even while sitting on the tarmac, then you can set the view and not only do you have a fixed view but you also have a dynamic view if you want rotate or swivel the camera to capture some scenery passing under the aircraft for example, or to setup that exquisite sunset shot, unlike a t truly fixed camera which is limited in this regard. I actually use an Xbox controller to control the camera and I think a few others do too.  

 

Cheers

Terry

 

  

No. No, Mav, this is not a good idea.

Sorry Goose, but it's time to buzz the tower!

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Drone cma

13 hours ago, Noel said:

You're missing the DRONE camera which gives you complete control of the external view and is simple to use.

The Drone camera is useful but not a total solution for custom external views.  I mostly use the camera.cfg editing method described above.  Unfortunately, I guess because is a bit of a hack not an official way of doing things, you can get artifacts that vary from aircraft to aircraft but it usually  works.

Bruce

Bruce Bartlett

 

Frodo: "I wish none of this had happened." Gandalf: "So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."

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