Oculus Rift DK2 recording question

[Mt5_Roie]

Since the Oculus rift is kinda long I figured I'd ask this question here. I'm trying to record the two eye feed from the rift while in DCS 1.5 and 2.0. In the pre-1.5 days it used to treat the rift as a seperate monitor so I was able to use Xsplit to record the live feed. Since DCS not has a dedicated GUI for the rift, that's all I can seem to record. Any advise on how to record the two eye view again?

 

I'm currently using Xsplit and using the Oculus Rift Dk2 (I did pre-order the CV1).

[Frusheen]

Not sure it's possible anymore since we are using direct mode. I used to do it with a HDMI capture device plugged into a second computer but I've since sold it so can't test with the latest runtime versions.

 

do you mind me asking why you want to record that view? The associated head tracking is very disorientating for others who are "looking through your eyes" with another rift and for those without a rift it's kinda pointless. I think that's why oculus reverted to making the pre warp image from the buffer available to display on the monitor rather than the warped stereo images.

 

You could play back your track with the rift turned off and use a stereo lua view file to split the image then record that again with shadow play, OBS or fraps. It's a bit of a long work flow though but might be doable.

[Mt5_Roie]

I was asked by someone if it was possible after a recent video I did. I think it might have some benifit if viewed on an oculus or via google cardboard method.

 

Although now I'm kind of curious. Is it possible to set up a LUA view to show 180 degrees for each eye? That was when played back on a rift of a google cardboard they could look around.

[Frusheen]

I was asked by someone if it was possible after a recent video I did. I think it might have some benifit if viewed on an oculus or via google cardboard method.

 

I don't think that's a good idea. It's a recipe for pretty bad motion sickness.

 

Although now I'm kind of curious. Is it possible to set up a LUA view to show 180 degrees for each eye? That was when played back on a rift of a google cardboard they could look around.

 

That is a very interesting idea. You'd want a stereo dome view (sphere would be better) then play it back in any VR player.

 

You could basically create a 360 video of DCS similar to what's done in real life here: (watch on YouTube preferably with iPhone etc for tracking.

 

 

You'd need to write a custom view lua to give you the FOV and the split images. I don't know how you'll manage the warp though. I'd say it could be done with a bit of work.

Edited February 12, 2016 by Frusheen

[Mt5_Roie]

That would be awesome to do.....just need to find someone who's good with the view luas now.

[Frusheen]

That would be awesome to do.....just need to find someone who's good with the view luas now.

 

I was going to experiment this evening but I got called into work. If I get a chance tomorrow I'll play around with it a bit and let you know how it goes.

[Frusheen]

I got it working but it is not acceptable for viewing.

 

I set the screen to render in stereo. I then edited the view.lua to give 170 degrees FOV. Played back a track and recorded the output. I then played it through a VR player and it renders the image in 3d and you can look around the cockpit but the resolution is crap.

 

The problem is that I'm capturing the two stereo images on a single 1080p monitor. Once played back in VR and spread over a 180 degree FOV the pixel density drops WAY too low.

 

If you had a 4k monitor it may be worth trying otherwise I dont think its a runner.

[Mt5_Roie]

What was the fps you recorded at? I know the current oculus rift dk2 has a total resolution of 1080p. The cv1 will have double that. I think putting all settings on high and recording at 60 fps might work. Can you share the LUA file and I'll test it.

[Frusheen]

What was the fps you recorded at? I know the current oculus rift dk2 has a total resolution of 1080p. The cv1 will have double that. I think putting all settings on high and recording at 60 fps might work. Can you share the LUA file and I'll test it.

 

I recorded at 60fps. The issue with recording off a 1080p monitor is two fold. When rendering direct to the rift in DCS it is not a 1080p render target. The pre warp image is much higher resolution. This is to account for loss of resolution when the image is warped for the rift lenses. The final image is 1080p but that is after the warp is applied. The image is also only rendering a 100degree FOV. So it has a higher initial resolution image being warped and spread over a narrower FOV which results in many more pixels per degree.

 

In the experiment I tried I have a 1080p image pre warp. Which after warping in a third party program looses much of that resolution. In order to provide head tracking it is covering 180degrees FOV this further degrades the perceived resolution.

 

All you need to do is select stereo from the monitor tab in game and edit your FOV to about 170 degrees in your view.lua. Record the image with shadow play or fraps etc then play it back in a VR player which allows you to warp the image be that on the rift, Google cardboard etc

 

There is no major editing of files needed. With a 4K monitor the initial stereo recording could be set to much higher resolution in which case it may work.