Zoom Zoom

[GreyBadger]

Hi All

 

I haven't bugged you lot with questions for a while, so I thought it was time to rectify that. :smilewink:

 

Actually it's two questions which are kind of extensions to things I've discussed here before.

 

Once upon a time there was a handsome Badger and he had a problem with his shiny new "TrackIR" system. It had to do with the HUD text running away from him every time he leaned forward in the cockpit and his poor nocturnal based vision was struggling to cope. He rode to the DCS castle for help and the good people in the forums there told him how to switch the zoom function onto his "TrackIR" and then when he leaned forward the HUD text was trapped in place and easy for him to see. Aren't happy endings great?

 

Time has gone by though and the handsome Badger has discovered that his sim needs have changed. To cut a long story short, he now needs to move his head around the cockpit more naturally and to have a zoom function allocated separately for easier tracking down of the bad guys outside.

 

So the normal "TrackIR" functions have been restored, the handsome Badger now has to make sure to wear his glasses to read the HUD and the zoom function is now slaved to the slider on the throttle unit of his X52 Pro HOTAS. This however has left him with two problems which are causing his brow to wrinkle.

 

1/ The zoom setup on the slider would ideally have normal view at one end of the slide and maximum zoom at the other end. Thus making it easy to look at things outside and then return to normal without even looking at the slider or even having to think much about it.

 

Instead though, the "normal view" sits about half way along the sliders arc. Forward of that things are fine and zoom as expected, but backward of that point and things zoom out further, ending finally in a weird fish eye lens kind of affair. So the problem is that when coming out of zoom, I have to think about where I'm placing the slider and nine times out of ten have to wiggle it back and forth to find that ideal zoom.

 

Logic suggests that it's probably an adjustment that's possible to make, either in the "axis tune" section, or in the sims configuration files. But not being remotely technical I don't have a clue where to begin.

 

2/ The above reassignments have had an interesting but unfortunate side effect on the HUD. Now when in my ideal seating position, the text on the HUD spills over the sides of the glass plate and to see the whole thing I actually have to lean forward considerably to effectively get the text to resize and fit.

 

I found more than one thread mentioning this, but in each case the threads quickly reached a point where the possible solutions being talked about were getting above my head.

 

So I wonder, has this matter been addressed by now and if not, is there a simple Badger friendly work around?

 

Thanks fellas

 

Badger

 

PS: FYI I was just looking out of our Kitchen window and the Vulcan bomber flew right past! :) Probably getting ready for the Waddington Air Show next week.

[srky]

In the settings menu choose axis commands and then choose your zoom slider. Click on "axis tune" button and tick the box that says "use as slider" or "slider something" (I forgot).

Then use sliders to make your axis line end up not in the upper right corner but somewhat lower. This will determine your lowest zoom point - which you need to be same as your normal FOV.

If you find it zooms out instead of IN, just tick the "invert" box aswell.

[141st_Gözcü]

Settings

Plane

Axis settings

Zoom trackır z

Zooooom

[smithcorp]

No assistance to give to Badger unfortunately, but having zoom on the X52 slider gives horrible shakes unless I find the sweet spot along the axis of the slider.

 

I would like to put zoom on the mouse wheel (either on the X52 throttle or on the actual mouse wheel), but no can do?

[srky]

No assistance to give to Badger unfortunately, but having zoom on the X52 slider gives horrible shakes unless I find the sweet spot along the axis of the slider.

 

I would like to put zoom on the mouse wheel (either on the X52 throttle or on the actual mouse wheel), but no can do?

Why?? Is your or wheel input not recognized by the game?

[srky]

I have a cougar hotas and zoom mapped to a wheel on the throttle.

When wheel is it's lowest (zero) position I have a normal, default FOV. And I can't go lower than that so it is impossible to get that fish-eye effect.

Half way up is the maximum zoom.

[GreyBadger]

Thanks for the replies fellas. You've made that sound really easy srky, but at the moment I have to admit that I'm only partly able to reconcile your instructions with what I'm actually seeing in the "tune axis" page. Completely down to me being thick I'm sure :)

 

For starters my "axis line" (if I'm looking at the right thing, doesn't go to the top right corner. It's top left to bottom right. Using the sliders to make my axis line go lower than the top corner, so that it matches the normal FOV sounded fantastic.. but at the moment I can't quite work out how to move what to where. LOL. Anyway I'll keep experimenting with it and thanks so much for the input. At least I know I'm in the right area. :)

 

I'm also encountering the slider shake or "jitter" reported by smithcorp, now that I've assigned zoom to that slider. It's annoying having to wiggle the slider about to get to the sweet spot that stops this. But from what I have read it's a known problem, though I've not seen a solution. At any rate I'm inclined to put up with it given that the slider on my throttle feels such a natural placement for the zoom. A really comfortable fit in terms of ease of use.

 

Badger

[srky]

Hm... I would have just sent you a screenshot, unfortunately I will not be near my rig for some 10 days maybe.

Do you see the three boxes in axis tune section? One of them should read "use as slider" or "slider" or something like that. Tick that box.

Now, when you move one of the sliders on the right side of your axis graphical representation, the red line should stay based in your lower right corner but should point some 30 % lower than your upper left corner, just experiment with it until you find your normal view.

I suggest firing up a quick mission and entering settings menu mid-flight so you can toggle between flight and settings and see immediate result of your adjustments.

As for the jitter: try to introduce some dead zone and/or dampening (if that's available) in your saitek software. I did so to my cougar throttle before entering into dcs settings.

You can also post a screenshot of your axis tune screen and I will direct you what to try and change (I cannot remember what it looks like exactly or what is the naming of some settings).

[GreyBadger]

Thanks srky, I'm sorted out now (at least with the zoom) though not as we'd discussed. :)

 

I gave up on using the slider as even with your help I just couldn't see a way forward on it. But while I was messing about with it I did see someone mentioning switching to the throttle pov hat as a solution to the slider jitter.

 

Wouldn't you know the axis designation would not accept the throttle pov hat. I'm using both povs on the joystick with no problems, one for trim and the other for moving the tracking reticule for missiles and stuff. So why the throttle pov apparently does not exist is anyones guess. :)

 

Anyway.. I've never really used the X52 Pro to it's full potential, in that I've done very little in programming it's functions. Mostly I've just allocated commands for the HOTAS within DCS and carried on using the ordinary key presses for most everything else. Lack of tech smarts and laziness are both in play, with the blame probably lying more or less in the middle.

 

So I took the bit between my teeth and programmed the throttle pov to simulate num pad "*" and "/" and lo and behold a zoom with no stutter. It's a compromise, but actually it's one which by the look of it is going to turn out better than the original idea. Result! :)

 

Of course I've still got the hud text issue which nobody addressed yet. I suspect that one might be more complicated.

 

Badger

[srky]

I'm glad you made a progress .

That leaves the slider unassigned for now so you can use it for other stuff if it comes handy.

I'll try to post a picture of what I meant just to finish my thought if anyone else looks here for solution of some other, related problem.

Enjoy your newfound, jitterless zoom my friend!

 

P.S. I'm in no position to help you with the HUD problem right now but I'm sure someone will come along soon who can shed some light on it.

[srky]

[srky]

Here you go, this is what I meant.

You should tick empty box "slider", here circled red, and then use "saturation X" and "saturation Y" sliders to make your axis (blue line) look something like the red line I drew over the picture here.