Tacview, the ACMI for DCS World – Official Thread

[BuzyBee]

On 8/7/2021 at 12:39 PM, Chops said:

I have read through the Tacview support pages, uninstalled and re-installed Tacview, however the software will not record DCS flights.  I have the Tacview Advanced 64-bit with a license.

 

My DCS log file is attached.  It shows error code 29 associated with Tacview, but not sure what this means.

 

 

TacView DCS Log.txt 3.01 kB · 4 downloads

 

Hi,

 

I feel like this must be because the export path is not writable. Can you try changing the export path to C:/Downloads/ or something?

 

To do so, in Tacview, go to Options -> ACMI Files Recording Folder... - see the screenshot below.

 

Let me know how it goes

 

[Chops]

Thanks, I figured this out a while ago.  That was the issue; the Documents folder was not writable. 

[C_Dub73]

@Buzzybee - Hi, had to reinstall everything to unload C:/ drive of storage and then split stuff across C and D drives. Have reinstalled Tacview, but I can only get TRK files to save and not .acmi files.   

 

When I go through Options/acmi files recording folder, it asks me to select a folder, which I've done but the check box never appears in the Options drop down.  Every time I click on acmi recording folder, I go through the same process and it stills remains unchecked.   Associate Tacview with acmi is checked.

 

I've tried several folder options based on queries earlier in the thread C:/documents/xxxx, C:/downloads/xxxxx, C:/users/%user%/saved games/dcs.openbeta/tracks/mulitplayer etc but still no joy on the .acmi format.

 

I had to manually set up the DCS exporter scripts as well.  

 

Any assistance appreciated.

 

C

 

 

[BuzyBee]

On 8/21/2021 at 12:51 AM, C_Dub73 said:

@Buzzybee - Hi, had to reinstall everything to unload C:/ drive of storage and then split stuff across C and D drives. Have reinstalled Tacview, but I can only get TRK files to save and not .acmi files.   

 

When I go through Options/acmi files recording folder, it asks me to select a folder, which I've done but the check box never appears in the Options drop down.  Every time I click on acmi recording folder, I go through the same process and it stills remains unchecked.   Associate Tacview with acmi is checked.

 

I've tried several folder options based on queries earlier in the thread C:/documents/xxxx, C:/downloads/xxxxx, C:/users/%user%/saved games/dcs.openbeta/tracks/mulitplayer etc but still no joy on the .acmi format.

 

I had to manually set up the DCS exporter scripts as well.  

 

Any assistance appreciated.

Hi,

 

Can you please share your DCS log?

 

No check box is expected to appear next to ACMI Files Recording Folder menu option, so don't worry about that - that option is just for you to select a folder.

[MoppleTheWhale42]

Am 4.8.2021 um 22:21 schrieb BuzyBee:

 

Hi, this is a great question! Actually each bullet has its own ID (assigned by DCS World) but they are not all listed. In your example, you can tell that they are all from the same group by the Parent Object ID and the Time:

 

I see. Thank you!

[Worrazen]

Hello

 

I played the 3rd-Party SERPENTS HEAD F/A-18C campaign and in mission 3 where there's a section of 2 houses attacking a convoy of trucks there's also an SA-18 next to the armed houses, it was a successful mission on first try and the first time I used TACVIEW in quite a while. I've investigated the recording for another reason, an AI crashed by mistake which gave me the lucky win, but there was a close call with the SA-18 firing the Igla against me when I didn't expect it, missed, so I had a look at that as well:

 

Flight log reported that SA-18 was attacking trucks with what looks like small arms shells and fired 300 rounds, I found that very odd, I thought perhaps SA-18 has the ability to self-defence with side arm ... but it felt unlikely.

 

It all seemed as if the "SA-18" is the group name and that some other units in the group are firing those shells, but I later figured out the "SA-18" moniker is the unit type while the name of the group is in parenthesis, which for some reason aren't present in the campaign's recording, but are present in my ME missions.

The yellow bullet trace lines clearly start from the blue M1 Infantry, but it reports as if the SA-18 fires it.

 

 

 

 

So I did a few tests in ME and I got this, in this case, I also tried the SA-18 C2 comm guy but that one worked fine, or the proximity of the units has something to do with it too, just like with the weapons, they have real trouble doing any damage this close and only managed to kill 1 guy, while in other tests when further apart it was okay, but this is probably an unrelated weapon issue.

 

 

Seems like there's some kind of a mixup with unit ID's, rather than SA-18's actually having a gun and firing with it, either in DCS or TacView or both.

 

 

EDIT: Also this in debug log:

 

2021-08-27T20:14:27.623Z WRN PROPDB      Cannot find matching default properties for object [soldier_wwii_us] type [Ground+Light+Human+Infantry]
2021-08-27T20:14:27.623Z WRN PROPDB      Cannot find matching default properties for object [weapons.shells.7_92x57sS] type [Projectile+Shell]

 

I did another test and this time with maximum proximity, how far the M1 Garand soldier can shoot, it looked like this, no mention of anyone firing anything.

 

 

 

Edited August 27, 2021 by Worrazen

[MoppleTheWhale42]

Am 4.8.2021 um 22:21 schrieb BuzyBee:

 

Hi, this is a great question!

 

 

Hi BuzyBee,

 

I am glad that you liked the question. Here is another one, this time I am trying to trace back hits from cluster bombs.

 

When I drop a cluster bomb (here a CBU-105), the bomb shows up as the secondary object of my plane:

        <Event>
            <Time>45.11</Time>
            <Location>
                <Longitude>56.5492761</Longitude>
                <Latitude>27.2261811</Latitude>
                <Altitude>4341.05</Altitude>
            </Location>
            <PrimaryObject ID="11">
                <Type>Aircraft</Type>
                <Name>A-10C Thunderbolt II</Name>
                <Pilot>Moppel</Pilot>
                <Coalition>Enemies</Coalition>
                <Country>us</Country>
                <Group>Aerial-1</Group>
            </PrimaryObject>
            <Action>HasFired</Action>
            <SecondaryObject ID="12">
                <Type>Bomb</Type>
                <Name>CBU_105</Name>
                <Coalition>Enemies</Coalition>
                <Country>us</Country>
                <Parent>11</Parent>
            </SecondaryObject>
        </Event>

 

The next event is that the  BLU-105 comes into existence:

        <Event>
            <Time>83.92</Time>
            <Location>
                <Longitude>56.2419409</Longitude>
                <Latitude>26.1718273</Latitude>
                <Altitude>-2.25</Altitude>
            </Location>
            <PrimaryObject ID="13">
                <Type>Bomb</Type>
                <Name>BLU-108</Name>
                <Coalition>Enemies</Coalition>
                <Country>us</Country>
            </PrimaryObject>
            <Action>HasEnteredTheArea</Action>
            <Airport ID="ICAO:OOKB">
                <Name>Khasab</Name>
            </Airport>
        </Event>

 

Here is my first question: How can I find out that the BLU-105 (ID=13) is related to the CBU-105 (ID=12)?

 

Then, when the skeets hit the targets, I see that the targets get destroyed, but I can neither trace back to the BLU-108 nor to the CBU-105:

        <Event>
            <Time>109.58</Time>
            <Location>
                <Longitude>56.5777276</Longitude>
                <Latitude>27.2675555</Latitude>
                <Altitude>10.77</Altitude>
            </Location>
            <PrimaryObject ID="6">
                <Type>Tank</Type>
                <Name>BTR-80</Name>
                <Pilot>Ground-1-5</Pilot>
                <Coalition>Allies</Coalition>
                <Country>ru</Country>
                <Group>Ground-1</Group>
            </PrimaryObject>
            <Action>HasBeenDestroyed</Action>
        </Event>

 

From these "HasBeendDestroyed" events, is there any way to trace back to the airplane, that dropped the cluster bomb?

 

 

[Kitchen_Duty]

Search didn't yield any results, where do I change the default ports from 42674 where tacview telemetry streams? i have a need for two servers on my network but don't want to reuse the same ports.  

is this the correct file?
C:\Program Files (x86)\Tacview\DCS\Mods\tech\Tacview\Options\optionsData.lua ? 
because i see this line:

TACVIEW_REAL_TIME_TELEMETRY_PORT_LABEL        = _("TCP Port (default 42674)"),

After searching this thread, i think this is the answer:
------------------

 

inside the config.lua file, paste this block in (from https://tacview.fandom.com/wiki/User_Guide_%E2%80%93_DCS_World#Exporter_Options)

   ["Tacview"] = {
            ["tacviewAutoDiscardFlights"] = 10,
            ["tacviewBookmarkShortcut"] = 0,
            ["tacviewDebugMode"] = 0,
            ["tacviewFlightDataRecordingEnabled"] = true,
            ["tacviewModuleEnabled"] = true,
            ["tacviewMultiplayerFlightsAsClient"] = 2,
            ["tacviewMultiplayerFlightsAsHost"] = 2,
            ["tacviewRealTimeTelemetryEnabled"] = true,
            ["tacviewRealTimeTelemetryPassword"] = "",
            ["tacviewRealTimeTelemetryPort"] = "42674",
            ["tacviewRemoteControlEnabled"] = false,
            ["tacviewRemoteControlPassword"] = "",
            ["tacviewRemoteControlPort"] = "42675",
            ["tacviewSinglePlayerFlights"] = 2,
            ["tacviewTerrainExport"] = 0,
        },


C:\Users\Administrator\Saved Games\DCS.openbeta_server\Config
maybe manually add this in?

 

Edited September 1, 2021 by Kitchen_Duty

[BuzyBee]

On 8/27/2021 at 5:06 PM, MoppleTheWhale42 said:

Here is my first question: How can I find out that the BLU-105 (ID=13) is related to the CBU-105 (ID=12)?

 

Hi,

 

We don't remember if we properly considered cluster bombs. Can you please share your ACMI file?

 

On 8/27/2021 at 1:53 PM, Worrazen said:

The yellow bullet trace lines clearly start from the blue M1 Infantry, but it reports as if the SA-18 fires it.

...

I did another test and this time with maximum proximity, how far the M1 Garand soldier can shoot, it looked like this, no mention of anyone firing anything.

...

 

Hi,

 

Thanks for the extra work you put in testing all of this.

 

In the first case, it is possible that Tacview did not understand that the bullets could be coming from a building so it assumed the bullets were coming from the SA-18. Can you share your ACMI file for that?

 

Can you also share your ACMI file where no mention is made in the flight log of the weapons being fired?

Edited September 1, 2021 by BuzyBee

[Worrazen]

10 minutes ago, BuzyBee said:

Hi,

 

Thanks for the extra work you put in testing all of this.

 

In the first case, it is possible that Tacview did not understand that the bullets could be coming from a building so it assumed the bullets were coming from the SA-18. Can you share your ACMI file for that?

 

Can you also share your ACMI file where no mention is made in the flight log of the weapons being fired?

 

 

 

Here's the SA-18 as a building: https://mega.nz/file/eP4AEAgA#AtK7dISbqVKH_Ux0NpR-Cusy9fuM_78jpQohAqP1cec

And here's the no mention of firing: https://mega.nz/file/SG4AkYpR#FrOyExY8p9_mCfgMc-2TZnwQL4peYV6rVBJswp7spqA

[BuzyBee]

On 9/1/2021 at 6:24 PM, Worrazen said:

Here's the SA-18 as a building: https://mega.nz/file/eP4AEAgA#AtK7dISbqVKH_Ux0NpR-Cusy9fuM_78jpQohAqP1cec

And here's the no mention of firing: https://mega.nz/file/SG4AkYpR#FrOyExY8p9_mCfgMc-2TZnwQL4peYV6rVBJswp7spqA

 

Thank you for these easy-to-work-with ACMI files.

 

In the second file, after debugging I we realized that there is no mention of firing because Tacview currently does not log shots coming from "ground" objects, to avoid spamming the log.  In Tacview 2.0 everything will be logged and there will be filters available.

 

In the first file, Tacview did not understand that shots could be coming from a building, and we were able to fix that so that now Tacview recognizes where the shots are coming from and will not assign them to the SA-18. However, you will not see it in the log for the same reason as above - no logging of "ground" objects shots.

[MoppleTheWhale42]

Am 1.9.2021 um 22:00 schrieb BuzyBee:

 

We don't remember if we properly considered cluster bombs. Can you please share your ACMI file?

 

Hi, please find attached an ACMI file, where a single BTR is destroyed by a single CBU-105 dropped by an A-10.

Tacview-20210908-003515-DCS-ClusterBombTest.zip.acmi

[BuzyBee]

On 9/7/2021 at 6:46 PM, MoppleTheWhale42 said:

Hi, please find attached an ACMI file, where a single BTR is destroyed by a single CBU-105 dropped by an A-10.

 

Thanks for this easy-to-use ACMI file. I see the problem - the BLU-108 cluster spawns at 0,0 so Tacview cannot guess that it is associated with the other objects. In general Tacview creates events by interpreting what is happening based on locations. 

 

We'll investigate further - your ACMI file will be helpful - but I don't know if we will be able to fix it.

[TimRobertsen]

Hey

I was wondering if there is any way of visualizing the glideslope of a moving carrier? 

I have tried placing an object (aircraft) on the runway of the carrier, with the idea of having it be oriented 3,5 degrees up, 10 degrees off the carriers orientation, and use the Heading-visualizer of the object as a glideslope. But, no luck so far. I haven't found a way of "locking/attaching" the object to the carrier. 

 

Edit:

I dont know if this is the right place for this question, please redirect me if there is a more suited place.

Edited October 16, 2021 by TimRobertsen

[Madfish]

@BuzyBee

two questions:

1) how do we specify separate ACMI folders for each DCS instance (launched with the -w argument), for example on a single server with 2 dedicated DCS instances?

What I found in the documentation online was: Open Tacview (full viewer client) >> Options >> "ACMI Files Recording Folder..."
But I have not found how to specify it for each -w instance on the client, nor did I find anything in the config files for those instances that saves the storage path for the ACMI files. How can this be accomplished?

What I want to achieve is:
-w instance1 >> %userprofile%\Documents\Tacview\1
-w instance2 >> %userprofile%\Documents\Tacview\2
-w instance3 >> %userprofile%\Documents\Tacview\3

 

2) How to make tacviewAutoDiscardFlights work on dedicated server installs?

Currently the config is set to ["tacviewAutoDiscardFlights"]=90,
It should discard files shorter than 90 seconds.
Right now it is still creating the known 0/1kb ACMIs though which, if you open them, are 00:00:00.
Is there a way to fix this for dedicated servers or is it a client only config?

Thanks in advance!

Edited October 17, 2021 by Madfish

[BuzyBee]

On 10/16/2021 at 6:58 PM, Madfish said:

@BuzyBee

two questions:

1) how do we specify separate ACMI folders for each DCS instance (launched with the -w argument), for example on a single server with 2 dedicated DCS instances?

2) How to make tacviewAutoDiscardFlights work on dedicated server installs?

Hi,

1) Currently there is no way to specify separate ACMI folders for each instance, but it's something we definitely want to implement in the future.

2) After testing I can confirm that tacviewAutoDiscardFlights doesn't work for clients on dedicated servers. We will see if we have time to add this in a future update of Tacview 1.x, otherwise it will be fixed in an update of Tacview 2.x

[thasundancekid]

Hi, just took my first dive into tacview, good job!
One thing i really really missing, the theme...A dream would be a UI like command: modern operations!

Is there any themes out there?

And is there any way to control vehicles from tacview? like the heading of the carrier etc? Make waypoints to AI aircrafts? With or without mods?

[AdrianL]

6 hours ago, thasundancekid said:

any way to control vehicles from tacview

TacView is a replay system. It is playing back recorded events so you cannot change add waypoints, change headings,  etc other than switching between views.

PS! CMO uses TacView for its 3D view so you can see the planes in action is real time.

 

[BuzyBee]

12 hours ago, thasundancekid said:

Hi, just took my first dive into tacview, good job!
One thing i really really missing, the theme...A dream would be a UI like command: modern operations!

Is there any themes out there?

And is there any way to control vehicles from tacview? like the heading of the carrier etc? Make waypoints to AI aircrafts? With or without mods?

There aren't any themes exactly but you can customize the terrain textures: https://tacview.fandom.com/wiki/Technical_Reference_-_Terrain_Textures

You can use the Remote Control feature to control the current local aircraft: https://tacview.fandom.com/wiki/Remote_Control

[BuzyBee]

On 10/16/2021 at 7:25 AM, TimRobertsen said:

I was wondering if there is any way of visualizing the glideslope of a moving carrier? 

I have tried placing an object (aircraft) on the runway of the carrier, with the idea of having it be oriented 3,5 degrees up, 10 degrees off the carriers orientation, and use the Heading-visualizer of the object as a glideslope. But, no luck so far. I haven't found a way of "locking/attaching" the object to the carrier. 

I have been thinking about your question and the only two ways I can think of is (a) change the .obj file itself to include a transparent glideslope or (b) write an add-on. No easy answer!

[TimRobertsen]

13 hours ago, BuzyBee said:

I have been thinking about your question and the only two ways I can think of is (a) change the .obj file itself to include a transparent glideslope or (b) write an add-on. No easy answer!

Thanks for replaying

I have no experience with either of these alternatives, but I'm sure I can learn.

Any idea on where I can find info on how to go about this, f.ex. similar modifications which have previously been done? Or if there is a forum with folks who could guide me?

 

A follow-up-question: Is there a way to attach an object to another object? Im looking for a way to have an object function as the tacan-antenna on the carrier. It's possible to create objects, but they are stationary, so the carrier just moves away from it.

Or if there is a way of creating an object which moves at a given speed, in a given direction? So that it would appear to be attached to the carrier.

[BuzyBee]

On 10/26/2021 at 5:59 AM, TimRobertsen said:

Thanks for replaying

I have no experience with either of these alternatives, but I'm sure I can learn.

Any idea on where I can find info on how to go about this, f.ex. similar modifications which have previously been done? Or if there is a forum with folks who could guide me?

 

A follow-up-question: Is there a way to attach an object to another object? Im looking for a way to have an object function as the tacan-antenna on the carrier. It's possible to create objects, but they are stationary, so the carrier just moves away from it.

Or if there is a way of creating an object which moves at a given speed, in a given direction? So that it would appear to be attached to the carrier.

I am no good at modifying .obj files but you can grab the .obj file here: https://github.com/Vyrtuoz/Tacview/tree/master/3D Models/Data/Meshes

and change it, using Blender or something, to include a transparent glideslope - see how the propellers on some aircraft are transparent.

Then use these instructions to use your modified file instead of the original one: https://tacview.fandom.com/wiki/Technical_Reference_-_3D_Objects

This is also the answer to your question about how to attach an object to another object.

It should also be possible to accomplish this via an add-on:

See examples and documentation here: C:\Program Files (x86)\Tacview (beta)\AddOns\ and here: https://github.com/RaiaSoftwareInc/tacview.add-ons.lua

On our Discord https://discord.com/invite/qe26hQzSSf there is a lua-scripting channel.

***HOWEVER*** I have thought of something else which might be much easier ...

I thought of using the existing Radar properties to create a glideslope. In this case the glideslope originates from the center of the object which is not perfect but I think it looks good. I included a screenshot and an ACMI file. Open the ACMI file in a text editor and play with the Radar properties to change the size and angles of the "glideslope". See details about each Radar property here: https://tacview.net/documentation/acmi/

Let me know if you think use of the existing Radar properties is good enough for your purposes. Then I could write a very simple add-on.

Admiral K.txt.acmi

Edited October 27, 2021 by BuzyBee
Change picture

[TimRobertsen]

14 hours ago, BuzyBee said:

I am no good at modifying .obj files but you can grab the .obj file here: https://github.com/Vyrtuoz/Tacview/tree/master/3D Models/Data/Meshes

and change it, using Blender or something, to include a transparent glideslope - see how the propellers on some aircraft are transparent.

Then use these instructions to use your modified file instead of the original one: https://tacview.fandom.com/wiki/Technical_Reference_-_3D_Objects

This is also the answer to your question about how to attach an object to another object.

It should also be possible to accomplish this via an add-on:

See examples and documentation here: C:\Program Files (x86)\Tacview (beta)\AddOns\ and here: https://github.com/RaiaSoftwareInc/tacview.add-ons.lua

On our Discord https://discord.com/invite/qe26hQzSSf there is a lua-scripting channel.

***HOWEVER*** I have thought of something else which might be much easier ...

I thought of using the existing Radar properties to create a glideslope. In this case the glideslope originates from the center of the object which is not perfect but I think it looks good. I included a screenshot and an ACMI file. Open the ACMI file in a text editor and play with the Radar properties to change the size and angles of the "glideslope". See details about each Radar property here: https://tacview.net/documentation/acmi/

Let me know if you think use of the existing Radar properties is good enough for your purposes. Then I could write a very simple add-on.

Admiral K.txt.acmi 395 B · 1 download

 

Thanks man!  I really appriciate you helping me out!

I'll try things out and see how far I get! Then I'll get back to you  

[thasundancekid]

Anyone who can share their static object file for syria? With buildings

[BuzyBee]

On 10/16/2021 at 6:58 PM, Madfish said:

@BuzyBee

1) how do we specify separate ACMI folders for each DCS instance (launched with the -w argument), for example on a single server with 2 dedicated DCS instances?

What I found in the documentation online was: Open Tacview (full viewer client) >> Options >> "ACMI Files Recording Folder..."
But I have not found how to specify it for each -w instance on the client, nor did I find anything in the config files for those instances that saves the storage path for the ACMI files. How can this be accomplished?
 

This is now possible with Tacview 1.8.7 beta 17: https://tacview.net/download/beta/

For each instance of DCS go to Saved Games\DCS.INSTANCE\Config\options.lua and add to the Tacview options the following, using your own desired file path:

["tacviewExportPath"] = "C:\\Downloads\\DCS Open Beta Server ACMI\\"