Flim

Okay... first the 7x7x74 or 7-7-7 ft cube does work using 16:10 res. Now, my plan is to rebuild a lighter frame and go 8.5 square like Peter says for the pit. I will have to be smart using 8.5 since you can only buy 8 ft. sheets of material, but my goal is to make it a portable type structure. I will cad it up here soon... I have not tried 1280x800 for some reason, but it does work better for look down, about 4 inches extra at 7 ft. I need to play with setting up the monitors using the 4x1 setup... just not sure if it would make much of a difference in performance. Gadroc and I flew a simple test flight the other night and all I can say is wow! Smooth and no issues ... FPS 15-30

Okay, the perfect cube for a cockpit like Y2's is 8.5 squared. By the time Peter did the math, I had already built a 7x7x74 inches tall structure knowing that it could fit in most medium sized rooms. The top view is mounted in the front facing vertical;basically on the floor, but hard mounted with a projector mount. Now with the shorter cube the side projectors can be mounted inside or outside the structure, but when mounted outside you will lose extra beam angle and clearance for a cockpit. Also, the projectors push a lot of hot air and need good cooling which made me nervous keeping them outside against the cube with restricted airflow. Now a person could cut extra slots in the side wall for this. Last reason I moved them to the inside is it made it 100 times easier to adjust and tweak... you will do a lot of this! The structure is built with 2x4's and 1/8th brown fiberboard and painted with a light gray. The projector placement is on the center aft of each wall and you will need to cut slots for cables. My pc is a i7 950 with a 5870x6.... running almost everything low except visual distance high. Getting around 45 in instant action and 20+ in missions. I want a newer ATIx6 and a faster CPU which should hopefully buy some extra fps... maybe so we can add more the aft view in Peter's file!

This is the best I can do with an Iphone... I need a better camera!

I would say that the current setup turned out much better then I expected. At first I was going to buy the projectors, test it , and then return them to get my cash back. Now, 3 weeks later I have not returned them and do not plan to. I would say the level of immersion is very close or equal to the real A-10 trainers on youtube. My goal now is to build my pit into this visual system while keeping in mind that the eye point needs to be close to the current position. Yes, these visuals are better then the level D sims I have flown... when I get the complete cockpit into the mix, then it will be no doubt.

You can move the projectors, but it does not bother me at all. Now, at this point we do not have a back view, but it's possible as computer performance gets better. In one of Peter's files there is a half back view that I have tested and works, but need more computer power. I could not go back to track IR after flying this, and would say this by far beats the 8 million dollar sims I train on. Obviously this is not for everyone, but if you have the space, understanding wife, and a small pit budget... then it's well worth it!

Now, it's all about seat position and cannot translate what I see to video! From my seat it all matches and blends as well as it can get for 90 degrees.

OKay.... remember that you have to be in my seat for the 90 degree views to looks correct. It is really difficult to show the views from my eyepoint with a video camera. Vid 1 Vid 2 Vid 3

working on new video .... posted soon

Yes, I tried both ways... One issue I was concerned with is cooling, the projector was really close to the screen wall which was restricting the airflow which is a bad deal! The second issue was adjusting the picture... was a pain. I flew with both in and out and really does not bother me either way. Now the left view projector had to be moved back which made me cut a bigger hole in the wall for space, it seems the throw is less on that one for some reason. All is fixed now ! Lastly, better angle close together...

Gadroc would have a lot more money if it were not for me! lol Thanks to Peter for making this possible... I still need to tweak a little, but overall the setup works perfect. Also, need to move and adjust the left view projector which is still off a hair. The top view is being projected from the front now and looks perfect. I'm still not totally finished, the bottom of the wall will be enclosed and all areas that do not have a projection will be painted black. I would like to enclose the back and add a door as well to complete the entire experience. Now the pit is the next step and will be built around the visual ( "The Shed") The fun continues...

The "Shed" is operational !

check this out... let me know how this changes things.... http://www.projectorcentral.com/Optoma-GT750-projection-calculator-pro.htm?haveflashipromise

Really either size will work... The main views are no problem! The top view is the tough one to get correct.

Hey Gadroc, can you post the dims of the pit and head position? I think the head was around 55 inches in the seat.

Okay man, ring me when you get home! We based this on Gadroc's basement and the beams of the gt750...

Cool man! I haven't posted yet, but Gadroc and I have figured out a box structure that would fit in my sim room and his. We are going to do the same build so we can work through the tweaks together as we build the pits. This design can work for a lot of people with spare rooms. Today I'm working on finishing the frame in 2x4's and 1/8th fiberboard. Again, Peter is awesome !

I had a big cnc and Epilog laser that I sold a couple of years ago... I miss them greatly! So, I'm building a 30x48 cnc router and looking for another Epilog. The problem is if you don't have way to make the parts yourself or, have access to a machine where cost are low, then it is very tough to build a pit. For panel making... you need a laser, and for doing everything else you need a cnc. Also, the skills you learn will last a lifetime!

Still some tweaking that needs to be done, but in this video I have the textures turned on high along with visibilty. My video taking is not very good yet... you really need 2 to take a large view like this.. and fly!

I'm going to start doing Ejection seats again if you want something more realistic...

reposted cords above

Dude, go have fun man! Happy New Year all anyway, Left- 0,0 Center 1280,0 right- 2560,0 top- 3480,0 gui-5120,0 1280x720 by 5 6400x720 total

Thanks Peter, Hey can you re-arrange the setup file so it can match a typical monitor arrangement. Mine is... mon 1 = left mon 2 = Center Mon 3 = Right Mon 4 = Top Mon 5 = Gui It would help a lot if you could run this!! Thanks

Ok man, thanks for the explanation! It's great to each of us have different strengths of knowledge so this project can be possible ! I'm still trying to get the top view square with a mirror... What a pain, but I will get it!

Hey Peter... I want to try this, but it looks like your height is set to 1280? I'm using 720 Basically this is what I'm using, but I like the back angle views.

I'm going to get a first surface mirror and mount the lower projector on a fixed mount. I will pull out the welder and come up with something. The bucket is a good idea!