Zooming in on control panels using head tracker?

[Raven_Morpheus]

Hey all

 

Just wondering, as it's kind of annoying, but can you properly zoom in on control panels in a cockpit using the head tracking in-game (I use OpenTrack, most I guess use TrackIR), By that I mean turn the in-game head to look at a console in the cockpit (for arguments sake lets say the center console or overhead console in the Huey) and then zoom the view in so you can see the panel properly?

 

Whenever I try that using OpenTrack the zoom axis just makes the view slide forward in the cockpit, not actually zoom into the panel, which isn't helpful if the panel is above or below the centre line of the view.

 

I can achieve a view of some panels if I contort my head but it's awkward and isn't worth trying as I can't hold the position - it's easier to use snap views!

 

I tried setting the OpenTrack Z axis to the zoom axis command in-game but that also didn't work properly, when I tried it - the yaw and pitch axis interfere with the zoom and by default it is zoomed in too far and won't change the default zoom...

 

Any advice/ideas on this would be welcome.

 

Thanks in advance.

Edited September 11, 2016 by Raven_Morpheus

[SierraFox]

i would recommend mapping view zoom to an appropriate control on your HOTAS. much better than trying to zoom using head tracking

[Raven_Morpheus]

Yes I thought of that, I might still try that though if I can find a spare axis with reasonable control (my X52 Pro's dials don't appear to be very accurate).

 

I just went back and adjusted a couple of things though - mainly the angle of my LED array on my head (it seems the lower LED may have been pointing too low) and also changed batteries and zooming in whilst panning around does appear to work better than it did before.

 

The view is still zoomed in too far by default though, the only way I can zoom it out is by moving my head backwards - that seems to be directly linked to setting the zoom to an axis, because I can't adjust it by the keyboard when I do!!

 

If I could sort that issue (i.e. change the default FOV when using head tracking) out I think it might be OK!

 

 

EDIT - I solved the default zoom problem. There is a setting on the curves settings in Opentrack where you can change the center pose of each axis (on the options tab of the curves settings). I set the TZ axis to 25cm and that has solved the zoomed in view by default (at least in the Huey it looks right, don't know about the other modules).

 

Have yet to test how that affects zooming in on a panel though, hopefully it'll be usable now...

Edited September 11, 2016 by Raven_Morpheus

[SeaQuark]

Personally I use headtracking for zoom as well. I find it the most natural and effective use of Track IR.

 

Seems like you figured out a solution. There is also a way to do this purely inside of DCS: map the Track IR Z axis to Zoom View, then go to Axis Tune: set the axis to a slider, and a curve to your liking-- this will allow your resting state to be zoomed out as much or as little as you like.