Waiting for my new toy!

[DTWD]

Don't use the versions off the CD, click on the help and get it to check software version and if it's out of date get the latest version.

 

If it's not out of date (and there was an update the other week so if your using the CD one it will be) get the latest game updates.

 

EDIT: if you get the latest software you still may have to update the game database.

 

If that still doesn't work LOMAC used to suffer from a problem with the TIR file getting stuck and needed deleting. I use LoCFG to do this automatically for me, but I am sure someone can point you to the file. It's something like trackir.ini in the game folders somewhere.

 

Regards

Paul

[nemises]

Hi Gary,

Update the TIR software and game support (this can be done from within the TIR software, it will redirect you to the natural point website).

The version that comes on the CD is probably out of date and does not support BS.

 

You should see Black Shark listed as a compatible game in the list after the update, and it will be associated with the "flight" profile.

Go into the flight profile, and make sure you have tracking type set to "Track Clip" (if you are using the track clip), otherwise it will calculate incorrectly and act all weird.

 

Make sure to Offset the TIR camera to the side of your monitor that your track-clip is on (ie so that the campera is lined up with the TRack Clip, not the center of your head).

 

Make sure the TIR software is running BEFORE you start the game. A Blue LED will go on the TIR camera to indicate it has detected a supported game running (assuming you haven't disable that option in the TIR sofware).

 

If you are using the Trackclip pro, then you can also tell the TIR software to turn off the IR emitters on the camera, as the track clip pro emitts its own infrared. Having the Emitter turned on the camera can cause unwanted IR reflections from behind you which can confuse the camera.

[Gary]

Guys,

 

Thank you.

 

I had already updated my software from their site but didnt realise you had to update the supported game list...(but makes sense of course)

 

Will keep you posted...off to try again now...

 

Thanks again

 

Gary

[Gary]

Gents,

 

I'm using the track clip pro.....very unstable results so far....

 

I cant find where the option to turn off the IR emitters is in the software though?

[Cowboy10uk]

Gary, I've found setting settings to 180o worked great, before that track ir was all over the place. At first you WILL get very frustracted with it, but persist, find the best setup for your room and I promise you won't look back. I've clipped mine upside down on shelf above monitor, have proclip and track ir on left side ( very important) make sure track clip is on right e.g. Smallest sensor on top, longest one on bottom. On the profile you are using, make sure settings are set to track and then 180o as stated above. Then you can try setting new profile, turn everything off and set each axies one at a time. You will get there

[Havner]

Gents,

 

I'm using the track clip pro.....very unstable results so far....

 

I cant find where the option to turn off the IR emitters is in the software though?

 

Make sure to change to Track Clip Pro in settings. It needs to be explicitely enabled otherwise weird things happen.

By emitters you mean leds on Clip? No, you can't turn them off and there is no reason to do so, they're required for it to work. Make sure you don't have any light source from behind you in view of TIR. It pauses if that happens.

[Gary]

Guys,

 

Grrrr....Im getting there slowly....just seems way too sensitive at the moment and the calibration is far from straight forward....although maybe im not the brightest spark admittedly.

 

Really appreciate you guys helping though....

 

Nemisis wrote the following in an earlier reply...which I dont undertand ?????

 

"If you are using the Trackclip pro, then you can also tell the TIR software to turn off the IR emitters on the camera, as the track clip pro emitts its own infrared. Having the Emitter turned on the camera can cause unwanted IR reflections from behind you which can confuse the camera."

 

Thanks again everyone....most helpful..

 

Regards,

 

Gary

[Havner]

"If you are using the Trackclip pro, then you can also tell the TIR software to turn off the IR emitters on the camera, as the track clip pro emitts its own infrared. Having the Emitter turned on the camera can cause unwanted IR reflections from behind you which can confuse the camera."

 

If you're using Clip, TIR should turn off it's own IR automatically and warn you if you want to reanable them by hand (don't remember where the option for it is, can't check now). Anyway, they are visible as 4 squared red lights on TIR itself, if you don't see them, then there is nothing to be worry about then.

[Corsair8X]

Don't be afraid to set a little deadzone just for the beginning phase, just until you get used to it. It really helps a lot because you'd be surprised how much you move your head. Once it becomes very natural you can then reduce or eliminate it entirely.

[nemises]

Hi Gary,

Go into Edit Profile,

click the option for preview window "tracking"

In the tracking window, click "settings"

In there you can see various settings to be played with, including "Camera LED's on" , which is the option I was talking about.

If the Camera LEDS are on, the camera itself will transmit IR light (you will see 4 little red lights in teh camera)..these are used to bounce off the reflectors.

If you are using the track clip though, they serve no purpose except to potencially confuse the camera with fake IR reflections, therefore I'd suggest turning them off (turn them back on if you choose to use the reflectors instead though!)

Edited November 11, 2008 by nemises

[Gary]

Thanks to eveyones efforts Im nearly there!!!!!!!

 

Just a bit of tweaking here and there....the deadzone is crucial....

 

Big thanks to Nemises too

 

Regards

 

Gary

[Kurtz]

Turn the light filtering setting all the way up as well. It will minimise ambient light interferance as much as possible.

[Shrubbo]

Hey all, first post and a topic that I may actually be able to ad to.

 

Anyway this is a walk through of how I set up all games for track IR. I love the thing so much now I won't even play any driving/flying/sim games if they do not support trackir. I picked it up instantly in flight sims but had a bit of a learning curve in car sims for some reason but like I said I could not ever play without it again. Screw you mouse look!

 

Back to the point of this post, how I use the thing.. it may help you.

 

Make a Custome Profile First.

 

Firstly always make sure you update it. If it doesn't work in a game it is meant to then this is the first thing you look at then slap yourself.

 

Make sure it's running (Yah obvious but yah know)

 

Click on the Profiles Tab.

 

You then have basically 2 list boxes. The top one has a list of games(Title, Auto-Load Profile) it supports at the version level you have.

 

The second list box is down the bottom, "Available Profiles". It will have stuff like DEFAULT PROFILE, FLIGHT ETC. Click on FLIGHT to highlight it, it be a sample profile.

 

Below that you will see 4 buttons, New, Edit, Delete, Copy.

 

Click Copy. Now check the Available Profiles box and you will see a new profile there for you called "Copy of Flight"

 

Now left click "Copy of Flight" and then using the buttons below click "Edit"

 

Click the "General" Tab and rename it to blackshark.

 

OK that so it closes the box.

 

Now go back to the top window and select the title Black Shark. To the right of that you will see there is a drop down box with "Default profile" in it. Click on that and change it to the new custom profile you have created called "Black Shark"

 

Now thats done you should have in the top window the title "Black Shark" with a Auto-loaded profile called "Black Shark". Congrats that's a custom profile and now to make it work well. I will tell you how I set up the profiles that made it all make sense to me, others may differ but this is what I like to do.

 

Setting it up.

 

Double click you custom profile "Black Shark" in the available profiles window.

 

There will be General. Motion and Hotkeys TAB's. Click motion if it is not already there for some reason.

 

Double click Yaw in the Axis list.

 

You should be in the curve editor. You should see 2 drop boxes at the top (Axis and Acceleration) with a graph below it.

 

Click the Acceleration Drop box and select Linear. Notice the straight line in the graph.

 

Now on the right of the graph you see a couple of up/down selctor thingoes. Go to the "Shift Entire Curve" one and set it for something low like 5. Don't click the position of value boxes, just the "Shift entire curve" one. The line should be nearly at the bottom now. Yeah its low but this is for a reason :)

 

Ok now you have done that at the very bottom of the Curve editor under the graph you see a drop box.. "Copy curve to axis:", select ALL and click copy.

 

Click ok

 

What you have just done is to make a custom profile that had every movement set to 5 and is in a linear fashion. That means no weird curves or anything. It mean basicaly how you move your head is exactly how you head moves in game. To me this is the only way, curves don't give me intuative movment.

 

Now on to fine tuning.

 

I will assume blackshark is like any other game and can be tab'ed out of on the fly.

 

You should have 2 windows still open for Trackir. The one with all the profiles and the one where you can edit the profile, particularly black shark.

 

Now start the game and get in the chopper. Best to be landed at this point. Your head in game should be swinging around but not much (Remember low settings).

 

Now look directly at the middle of your screen and press the center key. The default would be f12.

 

Ok move your head around, start with just left and right. It is probably crap and you have to turn your head stupid amounts to see a full panorama.

 

What you want to do here is to set it up so you don't have to turn your head large amounts. So Tab out and adjust JUST the Yaw curve. Double click on it and "Shift enitre curve" up a few notches. Ok it and tab back into the game. Look directly at the center of the screen and press f12 again. Now look left and right and notice the difference. Do the above again until you are happy.

 

Do the same for Pitch and Roll. X,Y and Z I usualy bump right up so I don't actualy have to move my real body much in the chair.

 

Some Tips:

Do not wear any high vis clothing. Trackir will freek on it, same with bright lights, nice reflective things or direct sunlight behind you.

 

Be carefull not to set the sensitivity to high. For example you have it set so you move your virtual head behond the bounds of game. I like to set it up so I almost hit the game limits moving my head comfortably and can only exceed the game limits by moving my head into an uncomfortable position. Seems to help keep it calibrated and it a much better "feel" to it.

 

Anywhere the above should give you a good basis of where to start and more importantly a good idea of how it works so you can then set it up the way YOU like it. You may end up liking curves and stuff, who knows but now you should have a nice basis for understanding how to play with your new toy.

 

Hope the above helps, probably long winded etc but I am so bored :joystick:

[Gary]

Completed my first few landings and cannon runs with Tir now...

 

How did I manage to do without this kit for so long?....its very good...highly recommended.

 

Thanks again for eveyones help.

 

Gary

[DTWD]

Well first things first welcome Shrubbo and find some rep inbound for an excellent first post.

 

So how is it going Gary?

 

Regards

Paul

[Gary]

Shrubbo,

 

Welcome....

 

I will try your method too....thanks.

 

Gary

[DTWD]

Ah you have replied before I hit submit.

 

Have you tried TIR in a 6DOF cockpit yet? (I can't remember if you have BS or if your just running LOMAC/FC, I seem to remember you saying you had BS)

 

Regards

Paul

[Gary]

DTWD,

 

Was you asking me?

 

Yes, I have BS.......using repents guide to D/L from 1C....

 

And really enjoying it too..

 

Regards,

Gary

[DTWD]

DTWD,

 

Was you asking me?

 

Yes, I have BS.......using repents guide to D/L from 1C....

 

And really enjoying it too..

 

Regards,

Gary

 

It really does show it off (TIR that is, no idea about BS yet) at it's best with the full 6DOF. FSX also has it if you want another sim that fully supports TIR (or vice versa depending on how you think about it).

 

Oh and yes I was asking you :D

 

Regards

Paul

[Gary]

DTWD,

 

I also have FSX and have had a little play with that with Tir as well..

 

I still need to add some final tweaks but have the profile steady enough to fly...I really like the zoom function, where you lean forward to get a closer look at dials and displays, thats really cool....

 

All I need now is a motion platform and some way of mounting my display inside my crash helmet (so you lose all outside ref to your normal environment)...now that would really rock wouldnt it!....lol

 

You not been tempted to go the D/L route whilst your waiting for the western version?

 

Regards,

Gary

[DTWD]

Oh yes very tempted, and it's only something like £6 isn't it?

 

The problem is I am still having fun playing/simming in FC and enjoying that. I am nowhere near even mastering some of the basic stuff in that so I don't want to start BS as well.

 

I also can't count (well I could if I tried :D) the games that are comming out at the moment that I want to play.

 

When BS comes out I want to be able to focus my attention on it instead of feeling like I am being dragged in several different directions.

 

I also want to get a sim pit setup, at the moment my desk chair is unsuitable for using pedals (I try and use some rudder and I go flying into the book shelf behind me :doh:) so I need to get one of the kitchen table chairs, which are uncomfortable and are too high, so I need to re-organise my desk and play area everytime I want to play a flight sim. As you can imagine this severly hampers my ability to just drop into a game, so if I only have an hour or so I end up playing something else.

 

I want to get some of these AAA titles out of the way, at least a comfortable play area set up and then put some serious BS time in.

 

Regards

Paul

[nemises]

definately hold out for the english BS release!... I agree with you, when I get the english version, ima shut the door, turn off the lights and whatch the producers notes back to back, open the game and click on "training" , "Tutorial 1" , and not come out for like 10 hours.

[zaelu]

Many other people with a bit more patience use FreeTrack. Does the same job (I dare to say better cause I have squad members that use TIR but with problems from game crashes... to loosing tracking solution cause of light in room) but for free (ok you have to pay 15 euros for a webcam and sacrifice it to make it IR only).

 

I'm sorry to sound like a party braker ( :) ) but, I think people should be informed (inform them selves is idealy) of the alternatives.

 

Natural point exploited a need (small niche ok) and tried it's best to lock the customers (heh... it still tries) to milk their money (40$ for three bad IR leds with a lauzy USB cable? rip off... anyone? one good IR led costs 0.25 Euros.). If naturalpoint haven't existed small programs like "freelook" had been evolved into solid ones like "freetrack" a lot faster. Don't be fooled by their monopol into believing you couldn't make it without them... other monopolistic organisations do the same... I don give names but you can see their logo at a key press ;) .

 

At the moment there are other video motion tracking technologies that are evolving quite nicely...

 

here, take a look:

 

Mgestyk Gesture Control System

 

http://gizmodo.com/index.php?refId=5078731

 

or Camspace (cam-trax):

 

 

TIR looks from iceage compare to them...

Edited November 12, 2008 by zaelu

[RedTiger]

Don't be afraid to set a little deadzone just for the beginning phase, just until you get used to it. It really helps a lot because you'd be surprised how much you move your head. Once it becomes very natural you can then reduce or eliminate it entirely.

 

QFT x 100

 

You have no idea just how much you move your head around needlessly until you try TrackIR.

 

I never had much problem with it at first, beyond the fact that every pre-set that came with it was far, far less sensative than what I wanted. I had to set things to a very steep curve to get what I was looking for.

 

Natural point exploited a need (small niche ok)

 

*snip*

 

 

Funny how much humans tends to hate when others are successful, huh?

 

If things like Freetrack work, I guess NaturalPoint did a pretty bad job of "locking the customers" to "milk their money". So is every company who sells a product at a premium over the do-it-yourself version a rip off? I just fail to understand logic like this. If you think you can do better than NaturalPoint, there is nothing stopping you. But its easier to just say they're a monopoly while ironically that "monopoly" continues to be succesful, right?

 

Its not a question of "making it without them" its a fact that I don't care to look elsewhere. If you're looking at a $200 piece of hardware and you honestly think that this is so expensive that you find building your own is a legitamate alternative, flight simming is not for you. Because you probably won't want the PC you'll have to build/buy and the HOTAS+Rudder pedals needed to fully enjoy them. In fact...you may just want to read a book. I have yet to see any hobby that doesn't have its fair share of expensive toys for those who want to take it seriously.

 

If you have some sort of moral problem with it, I sure hope you're running a Linux machine and not using your FreeTrack on Windows -- if it would even work on Linux... ;)

 

 

TIR looks from iceage compare to them...

 

Yeah, and they also look like that Mr. Moneybags guy from the Monopoly board game too. :lol:

Edited November 12, 2008 by RedTiger

[Gary]

Actually all I'm interested in is something that improves my flight sim experience...

 

For the record, I did try freetrack, or rather tried to but after downloading it, the installer didnt even work.

 

I'm a great believer in value for money...if you pay very little, you USUALLY get very little, exchange values aside (BS was cheap, but only in Russia!)

 

If your experience is different to that, great and if freetrack works for you at a minimal cost so much the better.

 

I'm no expert in head tracking software but I'd suggest if you want to compare products its useful to have a full understanding of each so your measuring like for like.

 

For all I know, one might offer a lot more functioality than the other, but as I say...I dont know, so wont comment.

 

Regards,

 

Gary