Tacview, the ACMI for DCS World – Official Thread

[Hoggorm]

Assuming the server authorized data export: The whole flight will be recorded, regardless of the playback delay (which is typically 10 minutes by default). Only the review will be postponed based on the playback delay.

 

What happens if the server does not authorize data export? Lots of servers deny this...

[Vyrtuoz]

Tacview exporter cannot bypass DCS World protections.

 

So, like always, you will have to playback the track file in DCS World after the online flight to record it.

 

What happens if the server does not authorize data export? Lots of servers deny this...

[Hoggorm]

I see. Thank you. Just crossing my fingers ED will fix the replay function then. It is broken when flying the Viggen at least...

[HiJack]

I see. Thank you. Just crossing my fingers ED will fix the replay function then. It is broken when flying the Viggen at least...

You can merge your multiplayer tacview file with the singleplayer rerun. Just let the track run all the way to the end.

[flyco]

Since updating, I am getting no recording in multi-player, although single-player still records OK. The only differences I can find between the MP and SP dcs.log is that in SP there is a line giving the name of the recording, whereas in MP that line is missing. All other references to TacView appear to be identical in both SP and MP logs.

 

It is enabled in DCS and the server does allow export.

 

Any suggestions about what I might try to correct this.

[Vyrtuoz]

Flyco, can you share your multiplayer dcs.log file please?

[HiJack]

Same here. Singleplayer is OK but MP and Replay does not create a tacview file. That problem in 162 and 163 beta. I went back to 161 and all was working again.

[flyco]

Thanks for response. Attached is a log of a short (20 min) flight. There was no Tacview file found for this sortie, although others on the same server have no problem recording on Tacview.

dcs_log.txt

[HiJack]

161 does not record the complete track from a replay either.

 

EDIT: I had to go all the way back to Tacview 1.5.2 to get a correct Tacview file from a MP DCS Track that replays perfect every time.

Edited July 29, 2017 by HiJack

[Vyrtuoz]

Thank you for the feedback guys!

 

It seems that I have introduced a bug while rewriting the exporter logic in Tacview 1.6.2. The exporter does not record the flight whenever you are playing on an online server where Tacview is not installed.

 

I have fixed the problem in Tacview 1.6.3 which should be released this week. Sorry for the inconvenience.

[flyco]

Fine, thanks for letting me know. I will await the new version.

[HiJack]

No problem, lokking forward to new version. You check that replayed DCS tracks generate a correct tackview track also I hope. A much used procedure.

[Vyrtuoz]

Tacview 1.6.3 is now available!

 

Download: HERE

 

This intermediate release brings a few new features and several bugs fixes.

 

The online export has been fixed

 

After a bit of logic refactoring Tacview 1.6.2 DCS World exporter was not recording online games anymore. The exporter has been fixed. I have test all combinations possible and I think that this is the most reliable version of the exporter so far.

 

Cockpit instruments

 

It is now possible to display a 5-pack cockpit instruments in all views. This makes replays even more intuitive, especially during navigation and GA aircraft flight analysis. The cockpit instruments will try to display the IAS, magnetic heading and true altitude when available. When not available, they will respectively fallback to CAS, TAS, and true heading. A future update will display barometric altitude as well as the QNH.

 

True custom terrain textures

 

Now, you can display truly custom textures and orthophotos! No need anymore to produce perfect 1x1 degree tiles! All you must do, is to store your PNG and JPEG files in the appropriate folder and to declare your new maps in the appropriate XML file. You can use this feature to display real-life photoreal textures as well as the maps of your favorite region. PNG transparency is supported, so you can overlay several layers.

 

• Copy your pictures in C:\ProgramData\Tacview\Data\Terrain\Textures\
  
• Copy the file C:\Program Files (x86)\Tacview (beta)\Data\Terrain\Textures\CustomTextureList.xml in C:\ProgramData\Tacview\Data\Terrain\Textures\
  
• And declare in it your new pictures. All you need to do, is to declare the latitude/longitude of each corner of your texture. You can easily check them using Google Earth image overlay tool, in the LatLonQuad Location mode.
  

IL-2 Sturmovik support

 

IL-2 Sturmovik is now natively supported and all the appropriate elevation maps have been added for more accurate playback especially for ground and naval units.

 

Enjoy!

Vyrtuoz

 

 

 

FEATURES & CHANGES

 

• Added optional 5-pack cockpit instrument at the bottom of the 3D View

• Added IL-2 Sturmovik terrains

• Added support for free custom textures and orthophotos

• Added focus management to remote controls (for buttons and axe shortcuts)

• Improved remote controls modifier assignment

• Doubled remote controls custom commands for a total of 8

• When available, Magnetic Heading is now smoothly interpolated

• Magnetic heading is now exported from X-Plane, P3D, and FSX

 

FIXES

 

• DCS World exporter was not working anymore when flying online on a server with no Tacview installed

• Joystick dead zones are now properly managed by the remote controls

• Resizing Tacview window could be very slow

[Weegie]

Loving the instruments & better Terrain

 

I also sometimes run a map overlay on top of the terrain, the files live in Program Data/Tacview/Data/Terrain/Textures.

 

It would be nice to have a way of switching these on or off from within Tacview.

 

The only way I currently know how to do this is by moving the files from the Textures folder.

[Vyrtuoz]

Good point! I will add a way to switch between layers, or to disable some custom textures.

[HiJack]

Maybe not very much used but could you add two more buttons on the "Play/Pause" control also? I sometimes have use for next and previous frame. On a long track it is not easy to get the correct frame.

[SDsc0rch]

agreed

 

Maybe not very much used but could you add two more buttons on the "Play/Pause" control also? I sometimes have use for next and previous frame. On a long track it is not easy to get the correct frame.

[LeCuvier]

Just tried Tacview 1.6.3 and I love it. The instruments view is a great idea!

A little potential improvement: option to adjust the "speed" of the mouse wheel. I find that the distance between the two selected aircraft expands "explosively" with very little wheel rotation. Seems too progressive for my liking. I could of course adjust the mouse wheel gain but then it would be wrong for other apps.

But again, this is not a show stopper at all. The software is great!

[pdmarsh]

Rather than duplicate it here, below is a link to a post I made on the TacView site regarding the new ability to place texture files. It might provide some useful information.

 

Thanks,

Paul

 

http://dogsofwarvu.com/forum/index.php/topic,5019.msg23481.html#msg23481

[xBloodshed]

Is it possible to assign different data recorder ports? I have 2 instance of DCS running, 1 public, 1 private for training. Real time telemetry keeps on logging into the public instance when infact I want it to log into the training instance.

 

BTW, the training DCS instance is DCS beta

[Vyrtuoz]

@HiJack

 

Have you tried the Left/Right arrows to play backward and forward in time? Also, try to press Left+Right mouse buttons at the same time and drag to move smoothly and accurately in time.

 

@LeCuvier

 

I have done my best to find a speed which is working well with all devices I could put my hand one. Also, Tacview is supposed to work fine with hi definition mouse wheel. Are you using a specific “mouse” device? Did you change the default settings in Windows regarding the mouse wheel speed? Are you using specific drivers?

 

@xBloodshed

 

I did not have the time yet to add the option. I will do my best to make it available in Tacview 1.6.4.

[vicx]

Vyrt, Pdmarsh, I decided to try adding orthographic imagery as an overlay for NTTR recordings.

 

With older GeoTIFF imagery I ran into problems matching the images to the terrain and the recordings, but I had excellent results with NAIP ortho imagery from 2014 onwards.

 

NAIP quarter quads are projected to the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinate system and referenced to NAD83. Compressed data in the JPEG 2000 format acquired after 2013 are referenced to WGS84 and utilize the WGS 1984 Web Mercator Auxiliary Sphere projection.

 

Basically I tried to translate older images from one projection to another but my results were poor - most likely lack of knowledge :) but I found with with new JPEG2000 images there was no need to translate them; they just work :thumbup:

 

NAIP imagery is excellent so I think a great overlay feature would be an importer macro for overlay images that use the NAIP naming convention.

 

Field Definition: The naming convention of each file is based on image parameters.

Format:

S_DDdddQQ_qq_ZZ_R_YYYYMMDD_yyyymmdd

S = Sensor Type

DDddd = SE Reference point of 1 Degree Block (Latitude = DD, Longitude = ddd)

QQ = Quad location (range 1 -64)

qq = Quadrant indicator (NE, NW, SE, SW)

ZZ = UTM Zone*

R = Resolution in meters

YYYYMMDD = Acquisition date (year, month, day)

yyyymmdd = Date NAIP JPG2000 data was created (year, month, day)

 

*Note: JPG files created in 2013 or later use the UTM zone associated with the uncompressed data available through USDA-FSA-APFO.

Example:

M_3211418_NW_11_1_20120423_20120627

 

Vyrt, I don't think the 1m resolution is being rendered as nicely as it could be in the current version of Tacview but I am curious if Tacview 2.0 will outperform in this area.

[Vyrtuoz]

You are right, the texture resolution is limited by the current terrain engine. In Tacview 2.0 textures resolution will be limited only by your graphic card capabilities.

 

Where can I download the JPEG 2000 textures you are talking about? Are they free?

 

Can you share me several tiles? I will see if I can stretch a bit more Tacview 1.x engine capabilities.

[Wingthor]

Export Tacviev from commandl line gives only XML

 

Trying to export Tacview files using Commandline tool. Only get XML files. how to switch to CSV?

This is command:

Tacview.exe" -Open:"TacviewFileName" -ExportFlightLog:"TacviewFilename.csv" -Quiet -Quit

Regards Wingthor

[HiJack]

Trying to export Tacview files using Commandline tool. Only get XML files. how to switch to CSV?

This is command:

Tacview.exe" -Open:"TacviewFileName" -ExportFlightLog:"TacviewFilename.csv" -Quiet -Quit

Regards Wingthor

 

It's been a while since I last used it but try modify this in a batch job:

start "" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Stra Software\Tacview 1.3.3 beta 1\Tacview (64-bit).exe" /Open:"%1"  /ExportFlightLog:"%2.csv" /Quiet
start "" "C:\Program Files (x86)\Stra Software\Tacview 1.3.3 beta 1\Tacview (64-bit).exe" /Open:"%1"  /ExportFlightLog:"%2.xml" /Quiet